His hand swept over her head and down her back, following her thick braid. His touch was exquisitely gentle. “Zara, I don’t want a woman to fight by my side. I’m better out there in the dark, alone. I fight alone. It’s what I do best. If I had to worry that my woman was somewhere fighting off an army of men, I’d lose my fucking mind. That’s the truth. I’m not made the way some of the other men are.”
She knew that was what Bellisia had tried to warn her about. Bellisia wouldn’t be able to stand it if Ezekiel wanted her stashed somewhere safe while he went out to fight. Zara wasn’t Bellisia and she never would be. Whitney had detested her, calling her a coward, but she’d gone out each time he’d asked and stolen the data he needed. Bellisia and Shylah had pointed out to her over and over that she did everything Whitney required her to do, and he still called her a coward. She needed to know if her sisters had told her that out of love, or if it was the truth.
“Am I a coward because I hate pain and violence so much I don’t want to fight? I want a real answer, Gino, not a platitude.”
“No, of course not, Zara. I realize the world has changed into a place where everyone judges everyone else and holds them up to impossible standards. No one takes into account different personalities or things that happened in one’s past. If you need someone to take the brunt of the world for you, there’s nothing wrong with that. Some men prefer that trait in a woman.”
He wrapped her braid around his fist and stared down at the thick mass. “Sometimes, princess, people are cruel when they don’t mean to be. You’re not a coward. If you were a coward, you wouldn’t have gone out time after time and stole the information Whitney required. You certainly would have told Zhu about the SSD in your head. You would have given up Whitney and even the GhostWalkers. You didn’t, in spite of being terrified of pain. He inflicted the worst kind of pain on someone like you. Not just physical, but psychological as well. You didn’t break.”
She wanted to kiss him again, but before she could act on the impulse, a knock on the door prevented her from saying anything. She reached down and tugged at the blanket she should have been covering up with all along.
Wyatt’s grandmother stuck her head into the room. “I brought the poultices for her feet, Gino.”
“I’ll take them, Nonny.” Gino stirred behind her, gently moving her forward so he could get out from behind her.
“And you might put one of your shirts on her. Tomorrow, I’ll have the girls go into town and buy her a few thin’s. I’m the only one tall enough to give her clothes, and I’m pretty certain she doesn’t want my old lady clothes.” Nonny chuckled at her own joke.
“I thought her skin would heal faster without anything between it and the air.”
Nonny frowned and then nodded slowly. “If she doesn’t mind, it would be best.”
“I’ll keep everyone out.”
“You behave yourself, Gino,” Nonny cautioned. “That girl is an innocent.”
“I’ll protect her. Even from myself.”
“I believe you.” Nonny handed over the poultices, patted Zara on the head and went out, leaving them alone, the way Zara preferred.
Zara couldn’t help but think Nonny thought Gino was a good man.
11
“W
here are we going?” Zara asked. She desperately wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, just to get out of the house. The walls were closing in on her. Gino and Wyatt had removed the two capsules, preserving them so they could study the virus Whitney planned to infect her with.
The swelling was gone completely from her face and most of the colors had faded. The bruising from the caning had subsided, and the lacerations from the whip had mostly healed. There were one or two places on her body that Gino wasn’t happy with, but even those wounds were closed and healing, although tender.
Over the last week, Gino had taken the utmost care of her. She found herself thinking of him constantly. She hadn’t been alone with Bellisia, not once during the last week. She didn’t know if Bellisia needed time to think things over and was avoiding her, or if she was training with Ezekiel and the team, but Zara was worried that too much time was slipping by. Whitney wasn’t going to give them much longer before he came after her again. He had to be obsessing the way he did when his plans were thwarted.
“I’m going to take you on a picnic,” Gino said. “It’s hot and humid today. We may even get rain, but that won’t really cool things down. I asked Nonny to fix us a picnic lunch. I knew you needed to get out of here and I thought I’d show you the swamp. It’s beautiful. You’ll appreciate the cranes and other types of birds and wildlife.”
The idea of leaving the house and getting out into the swamp was so appealing she nearly leapt out of bed, until he gave her a stern look and she subsided, but she flashed him a huge smile.
“Put your hair up off your neck. I’m going to cover you in mosquito repellent.”
She immediately pulled her hair up, put it in a ponytail and then added another tie in order to twist the thick mass into a knot on top of her head. Gino sat on the edge of the bed and began to rub the mosquito repellent into her shoulders and the back of her neck.
“We’re going to have to address the problem of extracting the information from the SSD, Zara. We need a little help. Trap is unconventional. He doesn’t think like a soldier. He would never tell anyone, and he’s extremely smart. We could use his brain. Wyatt’s a lot like him. Intelligent and a bit of a rogue. I know you haven’t spent any time with them, but they would be my choices for help. What do you think?”
Zara chewed on her lower lip, thinking it over. Everyone talked about Trap as if he might be the smartest man on the planet. Wyatt too. It was possible the three men might just find a way to extract the information. “I don’t know, Gino. I’d like to talk things over with Bellisia again. I know we didn’t do very well the first time, but her opinion matters to me and I’m not so jealous and hurt anymore. I think I have a better understanding of relationships and what she was trying to tell me.”
Gino rubbed the repellent over both arms, making certain to get the backs of her hands. “That’s a good idea, princess. Let’s get on that as soon as possible.”
Zara nodded her head, trying not to react to the feel of his hands on her. The more she was with him, the more she found it was impossible to control the way her blood seemed to heat, moving through her veins like thick molasses. She’d never experienced deep, needy hunger that made her edgy the way she felt around him.
A sharp rap on the door had her jerking the sheet up to cover her body. She’d grown used to wearing just a T-shirt in bed and nothing else around Gino, but company was altogether different.
“Come in,” Gino called out, but his hand settled around the nape of her neck as Ezekiel and Bellisia came into the room. Ezekiel closed the door, giving them privacy in the busy household.
Zara smiled at her “sister,” relieved to see her. “I was just telling Gino I wanted to see you,” she said. “I’m so glad you came.”
Bellisia leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. “Me too. I’ve been training and haven’t gotten the chance to do anything but peek in on you while you were sleeping.”
“Gino told me. He has this thing about me taking naps.” She smiled up Gino, her stomach doing a slow somersault when she found him looking down at her.
“It helps you heal faster,” he said. He slipped off the bed to give Bellisia more room. Taking a position against the wall alongside Ezekiel, he continued. “Your internal organs were bruised from the beating and caning. They have to heal as well. Sleep helps.”
Ezekiel smiled at Zara. “You’re looking so much better. How are you feeling?”
“Whatever is in Nonny’s poultices is definitely helping. I have to admit taking baths in tea water and flowers feels strange, but it seems to be working,” Zara admitted.