Page 8 of Burning for Him

Wow, she hadn’t really thought about it before, but her extended family had been involved in a lot of kidnappings and attempted murders—and that wasn’t even all of them. No wonder Uncle Ian kept threatening to insert tracking devices under everyone’s skin. Instead, his extended family and the Trident employees all had electronic tags that Brody designed and installed in their cell phones and key rings. The men also had trackers in their military-style watches, while the womenwere given watches and pieces of fashionable jewelry, allowing them to wear whatever they wanted. Jenn had chosen to wear her leather bracelet to Colombia, so no one would be tempted to snatch it whenever she went into town.

Meanwhile, tracking tags were hidden in every pair of shoes the kids in the family wore. They could only be traced by the six Trident co-owners or Nathan in the event of an emergency. No one else had access to the program. Yes, it sounded like they were all paranoid. Still, the devices had proven invaluable on several occasions over the years, and the men refused to take any chances with the safety of their employees and their families.

Last year, she was grateful for all the training the Alpha and Omega teams put her through when two gangbangers accosted her and tried to sexually assault her in the parking lot outside Donovan’s. When Doug ran over and confronted them, the duo turned on him, attacking him with their fists and knives. Instead of cowering, Jenn retrieved the expandable baton she kept in her vehicle’s driver door pocket and whacked one guy’s arm with it, causing him to drop his weapon before the next strike broke his kneecap, incapacitating him. In the meantime, Doug took down the other guy.

At first, she’d been terrified, but after her training kicked in and paid off, she was thrilled and triumphant. Those feelings quickly soured, though, when Doug yelled at her for putting herself in danger instead of running inside as he’d ordered. As if she would’ve left him there, two against one, when she had the strength and courage to try to even the odds against him.

Later, after Uncle Ian took her to the police station to give her statement, she was alone in her apartment when the adrenaline crash hit. Just as her tears started to ebb, there was a knock at her door. Doug stopped by to make sure she was okay. They ended up in an argument, and she stupidly blurted out that she loved him. To make matters worse, she threw herself intohis arms and kissed him. Initially, he was shocked, but after a moment, he melted into the kiss. It was the most glorious thirty to forty seconds of her life. However, he then ripped his mouth from hers and told her it never should have happened and wouldn’t ever again.

Like she told Tony, Doug thought he was too old for her and that she had a case of “hero worship.” She knew in her heart that idolization was thelastthing she felt for him. She wasn’t fifteen years old with a case of puppy love.

Once done with her sit-ups, she stood and headed for a nearby twenty-five-foot tree sturdy enough for her to climb three-quarters of the way up. Two trips would complete her workout. Then, she would take a quick shower, have breakfast, and tackle her assigned chores for the day. The first one was to take inventory in the clinic’s supply room with Tony—a task they’d done before. It usually took about an hour to ensure there was enough of every item and medication that the doctor and nurses might need. A long checklist and an organized supply room made the mundane but necessary job a little easier.

An hour later, showered and fed, she followed Tony into the supply room. Surprisingly, nothing had fallen off the shelves during the mini earthquakes. But that changed drastically before they were even halfway through the inventory. The next quake that hit was much stronger than the first two. Tremors reverberated through her body, and she lost her balance, bumping into Tony and then one of the shelf units.

The shock intensified. Boxes and packages flew off the shelves, pelting the two of them before hitting the ground, as the overhead light fixtures swayed wildly. She kept waiting for the quake to stop as quickly as the earlier ones, but it continued. A shelf tower tipped toward her, sending everything still on it tumbling down onto the floor. Tony snagged her arm andyanked her out of the way before she could be crushed beneath the heavy metal.

“Let’s get out of here,” he yelled over the rumbling and crashing chaos, pulling her toward the door as another storage unit toppled over. They were like two drunken college kids trying to walk a straight line and failing miserably. Jenn was thrown against the door jamb, and pain flared in her right upper arm and shoulder, but she ignored it as Tony grabbed her around the waist and kept her moving out of harm’s way.

Once outside, they met others in the middle of the commune, away from any trees or structures. It felt as if they were on a Tilt-a-Whirl, and a wave of nausea hit Jenn. Wide-eyed, everyone squatted or sat, clutching each other, since it was impossible to stay balanced while standing upright. Their gazes darted around, searching for signs of danger. Jenn prayed the earth didn’t open up, creating bottomless canyons, as she’d seen in several natural disaster movies. Hopefully, those were just exaggerations created by Hollywood and didn’t happen in real life.

After what seemed like hours, but in reality had only been a minute or so, the earth stilled. On her knees, Jenn breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart still pounded as if she’d run several miles, and she tried not to hyperventilate. The others weren’t faring much better. Rachel and Lexie were in tears, and so were several of the children. Jenn sat and pulled a hysterical Elena onto her lap, trying to soothe her, while Tony wrapped his arm around Matteo’s shoulders. All around them, people started to calm down and reassure the children that they were safe.

Dr. Sanchez stood on wobbly legs. “Is everyone okay?” When not everyone replied, she repeated the question in Spanish. It seemed they’d lucked out because no one claimed to be injured other than a few bumps and scratches. Two of the men who lived in the cabins with their families got to their feet and ran tocheck on the animals. Everyone else stood slowly, as if waiting for another quake to hit.

“Let’s check the buildings,” one of the armed guards, an expat from Texas, said to three other men. “Make sure they’re all safe before we let anyone else go back into them. Everyone, stay here, okay? There might be some strong aftershocks, so keep away from anything that can fall on you.”

Of course, everyone who understood English looked up, searching for anything taller than them that could come down and squash them.

Over the next fifteen or twenty minutes, two smaller aftershocks shook the ground, causing several people to yelp, but they only lasted a few seconds. Once the structures were deemed safe, Dr. Sanchez began issuing assignments. Every building was a mess, from the kitchen and dining hall to the clinic, chapel, classroom, bunkhouses, and individual cabins. Almost everything that wasn’t a large piece of furniture or bolted down had been knocked to the floor. It would take all day to get it back to normal. Outside, several trees and large limbs had fallen, but thankfully, they hadn’t caused any damage or injuries.

Jenn, Tony, and Margie were assigned to begin cleaning up the clinic and redoing the inventory, starting from the beginning again, since some supplies might now be damaged and unusable. However, they stopped in their tracks when a familiar Jeep, followed by a large utility truck, pulled into the commune. Jenn was shocked to recognize the man in the passenger seat of the Jeep. Val Mancini, otherwise known as Romeo, was the last person she expected to see.

Um. Scratch that. Doug was the last person she expected, but sure enough, he and Lindsey Abbott climbed out of the truck.

What the fuck?

Relief at the familiar faces quickly changed to anxiety and anger. Uncle Ian said the shipment would get an escort, but he failed to mention who would provide it. She assumed it would be someone who lived in Colombia whom he could trust, like the expats working at the commune. She hadn’t expected two members of the TS Omega Team andDoug!

Okay, she didn’t mind Lindsey and Romeo being there, butDoug? She was going to kill Uncle Ian when she got home in nine weeks—not that he would have a clue why. She would’ve preferred any of her uncles to show up. She still would’ve been pissed, thinking they were checking on her, but one of the main reasons she was in Colombia was to get away from the man who’d rejected her. And now, there he was, racing toward her. Wide-eyed, his gaze raked her from head to toe and back up again.

“Jenn! Are you okay?” He grasped her shoulders and looked her five-foot-eight frame over once more. “Are you hurt?”

Her heart thumped hard against her rib cage when she realized his husky voice was filled with concern.

“Jenn?” he repeated.

Finally, she nodded. “Y-yeah. I’m good. No one was hurt.” She gestured haphazardly toward the buildings. “Everything is a mess inside, but we all got out in time.”

“Thank goodness,” Lindsey said as she and Romeo joined them. Elena moved closer, attached herself to Jenn’s hip, and eyed the newcomers warily.

“What are you doing here?” While Jenn addressed the three of them, her gaze remained on Doug’s worried expression. He still hadn’t released her shoulders, and the heat she felt under his touch was not only comforting but distracting. Her nipples tightened, and her pussy clenched. She wished they were alone so she could beg him to touch her all over. Unfortunately, that only happened in her dreams.

She gave herself a mental slap and forced her attention to focus on Romeo, who gave her elbow a quick, reassuring squeeze before letting go. The man crossed his arms and stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, a stance that every TS operative tended to adopt, thanks to their military or law enforcement training. “Ian wanted to make sure your supplies got here this time, so Clinton flew us down yesterday, and we met the plane this morning. Other than the earthquake, we had no trouble getting here.” He hitched a thumb toward the road leading to the commune. “Just missed getting flattened by a boulder that rolled down a hill and across the road. That’s something new for my ‘You won’t believe what happened’ list. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie.” He smiled and winked at her.

The man was so handsome, people often wondered if he was a model or an actor. However, Jenn preferred Doug’s rugged good looks to Romeo’s pretty-boy face. She did like him, though, as a friend. The same went for Lindsey and the rest of the Omega Team. They treated her more like a friend than the boss’s goddaughter or the Alpha Team’s niece, which she appreciated. None of them called her Baby-girl, either.

As if he had suddenly realized he was still cupping her shoulders, Doug pulled away and stepped back. Jenn immediately felt the loss but tried not to let it show.

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