“Keep them distracted.” Tracker’s voice came across the line softly. “We’re deactivating the basement security. Two of my men are at the door now.”

God, they had to hurry. She couldn’t let any of them take a bullet to save her. It would kill her as surely as being shot herself would.

She could feel the tension rising slowly, though, and she knew a critical point was arriving far faster than she was prepared for.

“Shut up?” Graham asked him as though surprised. “She doesn’t know you were in love with Betts?”

“It doesn’t matter what he felt for her,” Carmina said angrily. “What he feels for me is much more. He’s here with me, isn’t he? For no other reason than to help me kill you for getting her killed.”

Graham laughed. “Is that what he told you?” Crossing his arms over his chest to stop the two from watching him too closely, he directed an amusement-filled look Dorne’s way. “Dorne doesn’t want vengeance. He may have loved Betts, who the hell knows. What he needs you for is a convenient backup plan. He’s here for what he thinks I took out of that desert, aren’t you, Dorne?”

The soldier’s lips thinned further as he shot Lyrica a hard, vengeful look. “Shut him up,” he told her softly. “Or you and I will play serious later.”

“Unfortunately, he doesn’t listen to me,” she told him. Thankfully, her voice wasn’t nearly as weak as her knees were. “No matter what you may think.”

No matter what she may have wished.

TWENTY-TWO

The tension between Dorne and Carmina was only thickening now. Anger filled her face, and icy contempt filled his as he glanced at her.

“What does he mean by that?” Carmina shifted, staring up at Dorne now, ignoring Lyrica.

Graham chuckled then.

“I mean, he’s here for the two and a half million in stolen Taliban diamonds that disappeared when Betts was killed,” Graham answered for him. “He’s not here to gain vengeance for Betts, and he’s not here for you.”

“Where are they?” Dorne asked softly, a triumphant smile curling at the corners of his lips. “The only way to keep that pretty little thing behind you from being raped in front of your eyes is to tell me where they are.”

Graham shook his head. “You know better than that, Dorne. Haven’t you heard about my ‘flavors’ yet? Doing a friend a favor by protecting his baby sister doesn’t mean I have a damned thing you can take from me.”

Lyrica knew better, though. She knew he would give his life for her, just as he would for Zoey, Piper, or Eve. They were friends. She was more than a flavor—just not enough more.

The hiss of the link activated again.

“Basement door is open and we’re taking them out,” Tracker reported. “Give me two minutes and they’ll be clear. I’ll be in place with one of my men as you come down.”

Two minutes.

“There were no diamonds.” Carmina was watching Dorne suspiciously now. “Tell them, Jimmy. You weren’t able to retrieve them.”

“Is that what he told you?” Graham clucked his tongue at Dorne. “He got away with half of them. He thinks I have the other half. Two and a half mil. Don’t tell me he’s not sharing with you.”

A tense, heavy silence emanated from the woman now. She wasn’t looking happy at all.

“You said there were no diamonds retrieved,” she reminded Dorne.

He flicked a hard look in her direction. “I was going to surprise you once I found the rest. How do you think we funded this little venture? It’s not like you had any money to put into it.”

“I think, when this is over, you and I will discuss this,” she stated softly. “Until then, vengeance is what I came for.”

She turned back to them, waving them toward the end of the foyer. “If you’ll accompany us to the basement, we’ll get you settled in with the others, then I’ll get to the business of exacting my revenge.” She smiled mockingly. “Unless you want to watch your whore die here, in the foyer.” She flicked Lyrica a cold look before turning back to Graham. “Jimmy may believe she means nothing to you, but you forget, Betts was my sister. And there was much she did know of you, Graham. Did you think that getting my sister killed would go unpunished?”

Graham’s expression was icy as he reached back as though reaching for Lyrica, but Lyrica glimpsed his fingers curling around the butt of the weapon. “I think Betts got herself killed. She was more concerned with her feelings for Dorne than she was for herself. She went chasing after him when that fuel truck went up in flames, believing he was dead. I didn’t get her killed. Your lover did. And he did it deliberately.”

Before they could react, before they could stop her, Carmina jumped back, her weapon aiming for Dorne as she read the satisfaction on his face correctly.

She wasn’t fast enough though, and Dorne was evidently ready for her.

The report of his weapon sent several bullets slamming into her body, throwing her into the door frame before she bounced forward and toppled to the floor.

Before Graham, Dawg, Natches, or Kevin Davis could jump for him, Dorne had the weapon aimed in their direction once again.

Lyrica couldn’t take her eyes off Carmina’s body or the blood slowly pooling beneath her. Just like that, she thought, a sickening rush of realization roiling in her stomach. The man had killed his lover just that easily. Had used her just that cruelly.

And Carmina had paid the price for her need for vengeance. A price Lyrica was certain she hadn’t expected.

“Now that we have all that nasty personal business out of the way,” Dorne breathed out with a smile as he stared back at Lyrica. “Step out here, little girl, before I start putting bullets in all these brave bodies trying to shelter you.”

“No.” Graham did reach for her now. His fingers snapped around her wrist, holding her to him.

“It will only take a second to put a bullet through her, Graham,” Dorne snapped. “Now let her go, before I start shooting.”

Lyrica stared up at Graham, seeing the torment, the fury lashing at his eyes as the gold in them seemed to flame.

God, she loved him. So desperately.

Twisting her arm out of his grip, she moved away from him, pushing between Dawg and Natches as she stared at the bastard watching her with a mixture of triumph and evil intent.

She stopped just in front of Dawg, some sense, some warning halting her in her tracks as she felt Graham easing closer behind her.

Dorne tilted his head slowly. “Do you think he’ll tell me where the diamonds are to save you?” he asked her curiously.

Lyrica swallowed tightly before shaking her head. “I don’t mean enough to him for him to even consider remaining with me after this is over, so I doubt it.”

His expression turned doubtful. “Really?”

“Why do you think I was here?” She couldn’t stop the trembling of her voice. “I left when I found out my deadline was whenever I was dead or you were caught. So, yeah. Really.”

He breathed out heavily, his gaze flickering to Dawg and Natches.

“Let’s join the others in the basement.” He gave Graham a hard look. “Then you’ll tell me where the diamonds are, or you’ll watch me hurt your little whore anyway. And then I’ll finish what I started with that little girl down there. Maybe her brother can make you tell me. She does handle pain well, but her mother and stepfather aren’t holding up so well watching it.”

Terror gripped Lyrica, dragging a gasp from her lips at the thought of Zoey being hurt. Her little sister didn’t handle pain well—she simply retreated further from the world whenever it was inflicted. And god help them all if Zoey retreated any further.