Lethal Consequences by Elisabeth Naughton

you?
    She swallowed the lump in her throat, not wanting to draw too many parallels just yet, and waited for his answer. Several heartbeats went by before he said, “Because I ruined her life. Because I owed her. Because . . . it was the right thing to do.”
    Olivia’s heart stuttered, and a firm reality slapped her in the face. One that slowly pushed her pulse higher until it was a roar in her ears.
    He wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. A cold-blooded killer would never have cared about some orphaned girl. He wouldn’t have given a second thought to whether she lived or died. And he certainly wouldn’t be standing here now, out in the middle of nowhere, relaying it all to some woman who’d accused him of being a monster.
    Heat burned her cheeks. Heat and regret and a thousand different emotions she didn’t have time to decipher right now. “Do you”—she swallowed that lump again—“know where she is?”
    “Yeah. I’m the only one.”
    Olivia’s head felt as if it was spinning. Spinning out of control. “So the people who took us. They want the biotoxin? And she—Danica—has it?”
    “I don’t know if she’s recreated it. But yeah, she knows the formula.”
    Another whisper of shock rustled through Olivia. “And the DIA isn’t afraid she’ll try to sell it on the black market, like her parents?”
    He lifted his head and pinned her with that singular focus. The one that made her heart skip a beat. “No. The DIA thinks she’s dead.”
    “Wh-why?”
    “Because I told them I killed her.”
    He cared about the girl. The realization was like a shot to Olivia’s stomach. How often did Landon see her? What kind of relationship did they have? Was it like the relationship Olivia had with him—flirty and platonic—or was it more like what he’d started with that woman, Chantal, in his hotel suite—hot and sexual?
    Holy cow. Don’t be jealous. You have no right to be jealous. He’s not yours.
    But she wanted him to be. Wanted him more than was rational. Wanted him even knowing everything he’d done.
    He pushed away from the vehicle and moved toward her. A piercing, pleading, worried look filled his sexy eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you, Olivia. I promise. I just want to get you somewhere safe where we can call Aegis and have you picked up. But we have to keep going. Those people are looking for us. I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Just please get back in the Kubota.”
    Clouds moved overhead, causing a little more moonlight to shine down on his face, and she had to look away because the sight of that rugged jaw and those penetrating eyes were too much for her right now. Yes, she believed what he’d told her, but she was still struggling with how she felt about it all. And more than anything she was struggling with these feelings that were growing for him all over again. Feelings she thought she’d put behind her the moment she’d found that woman in his room.
    “I can’t . . .” She meant to say deal with this right now . But her gaze strayed to his broad shoulders, then to his left arm, which she could now see—thanks to the increased light—was wet, and finally to the fabric near his upper arm. Ripped, frayed, the skin beneath stained with red.
    Blood. That wasn’t sweat dampening his shirtsleeve. It was blood.
    “Oh my God, you’re bleeding.” She reached for his arm. “When did you get hurt?”
    “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about.”
    “It’s not nothing.” She tugged on the black fabric and ripped the hole wider so she could get a good look. The entire edge of his upper arm was red and bleeding, the inner flesh fully exposed. “Oh my God.”
    His hand closed over hers against his forearm, and the warmth of his fingers kept her from losing what little lunch was left in her stomach. “I’m fine, Olivia. I tied it off. It’s just a flesh wound. There’s no reason for you to worry about me. I don’t deserve it.”
    Her gaze drifted up to his. A sadness