Bare Nerve by Katherine Garbera Read Free Book Online

by what she’d said. But he also now understood her position on right and wrong and the vehemence he’d heard in her tone when she’d talked about him selling his honor to the highest bidder. “Were you taken captive by a group of mercenaries?”
    She nodded. “I don’t talk about that.”
    “Fair enough,” he said. “But don’t judge me or my men by the other mercenaries you’ve met in the past.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because we aren’t like those men.”
    “Really? What makes you different?”
    “A kind of sacrifice you won’t be able to understand,” he said, thinking of all the things his men had lost. Some of them had lost innocence, others family, others their faith in anything other than themselves. And he knew if Anna treated them the way she’d treated him, some of the men—like Kirk—would make it very difficult for them to work together.
    “I don’t need social advice from you, Jack. I’ve been interacting with all kinds of people for years.”
    He leaned over and grabbed the back of her neck. He hated that haughty tone of hers. The one that said I’m better than you.
    He kissed her hard and deep, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. She drew back and looked up at him. “Don’t do that again.”
    “I’ll do whatever I damn well please, Anna Sterling, and you had best remember that.”
    “Don’t act like a prick, Jack Savage, or I’ll show you you have a lot more to fear than you think you do.”
    He shook his head. There was no give in this girl, and as much as that turned him on, he knew it could spell trouble for them down the road.
     
    Anna got out of the vehicle, glad to no longer be alone with Jack. She didn’t like the way she was acting around him. For years no one had shaken her facade of normalcy, and now this man was getting to her. Making her question things she’d buried in the past. Things she wanted—no, needed—to leave there. Yet she couldn’t.
    “Hey, girl. Where’s the fire?” Justine said as Anna entered the hangar.
    “There’s no fire, I just want to get to Algeria, find Andreev, and bring him to justice.”
    “Me, too. I can’t believe that slimy bastard got away.”
    “Me neither,” Charity said as she joined them. Standing near the cargo hold of the plane were a group of five men.
    Anna watched out of her periphery as Jack joined his group. They were almost silent as they worked. She saw them talking, but it was quiet. She knew they had to be the best in the business because Sam wouldn’t ask them to work with a group that would sell them out.
    Liberty Investigations had all learned a hard lesson when Piper had been kidnapped. And trusting the wrong person could get them killed.
    “You looked really pissed off,” Justine said.
    She wasn’t pissed off, she was just…agitated. How could one man do this to her? “I am not. I have the new information from one of the Savage team with known hangouts for Andreev. I e-mailed them to both of you.”
    “We got it. I’ve been talking to Hamm. He used to be army. I think most of Savage’s team is ex-military, and they seem to have a strong sense of patriotism,” Charity said.
    “I’ll start running background checks on the men once we’re in the air. That way we won’t have any surprises.”
    “Good idea,” Justine said. “They look like decent guys, but appearances can be deceiving.”
    Justine had a long history of not trusting any men, especially those who seemed to be good guys on the surface. Anna realized the situation with Jack’s team could be very tense, given Justine’s attitude. She knew she’d have to keep her own distrust of mercenaries to herself.
    “Sam sent me a message saying Marcus Ware will pay for all our expenses. He wants Kirch/Andreev caught and brought back to the States for trial,” Charity said.
    “I don’t know if we’re going to get him alive,” Justine said. “He’s not going to want to end up in prison like his brother.”
    “That was my thought, too.