Brody's Vow (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy Book 1) by Kaylea Cross Read Free Book Online

only made him look forward to the challenge more.
    When that day came, he wouldn’t make her death quick or kind.

 
     
     
Chapter Four
     
     
    As far as decisions went, Trinity was pretty sure this might be one of her worst, but if Briar and Matt both trusted Colebrook, then she was at least safe with him. For the time being anyway.
    Logic dictated that things could be worse, however. At minimum he had serious training and would be vigilant. A definite bonus for her at the moment, considering the way she felt. She wasn’t bleeding anymore but her head was pounding and her neck and left shoulder were so stiff and sore she could barely move them. On top of that, she was tired enough that if she closed her eyes she was sure she’d drop off to sleep in a matter of moments.
    She couldn’t afford to let her guard down that far. The jacket she’d pilfered from Briar’s closet was waterproof but not overly warm, and even with the sweater she had on underneath it, she was still cold.
    Colebrook must have noticed her wrapping her arms around herself because he reached over to aim an air vent at her and cranked the fan up to high. A burst of warm air hit her, and she almost groaned in relief. “Thanks.” It felt wrong to be accepting help, let alone from a stranger.
    “Welcome.”
    The silence wasn’t awkward, just a bit uncomfortable. She was an expert at putting people at ease though, making them drop their guard on a job. This wasn’t a job but she could make an effort to be pleasant after all the trouble he was going to for her. “So where are we headed?”
    “Shenandoah Valley. Ever been there?”
    “No.” It was only a couple hours outside of D.C. though. “Where abouts?”
    “Little place called Sugar Hollow.”
    She barely kept from making a face. “It sounds like something from one of those romantic movies on the Hallmark Channel.” The ones she always rolled her eyes at because they were so ridiculously unrealistic and…sweet. No one knew better than her that the real world didn’t work that way.
    A grin curved his mouth, giving his face a sexy roughness that she found way too appealing. “Romantic isn’t the word I’d use, but okay.” He shrugged. “It’s home.”
    She kept pulling on the thread of conversation to fill the void. “How long have you been with the HRT?”
    “Five years. How long have you been in your line of work?”
    The phrasing made her fight a sardonic smirk. As if she’d chosen her profession. Or had a choice at all. “A long time.” They’d begun training her at age nine, but hadn’t unleashed her on her first target until she was eighteen. Her first kill had been a double agent with a penchant for teenage girls. She’d poisoned him during a private dinner at his house, using her favorite method because it was fast and untraceable.
    Trinity glanced in the side mirror again. The road spilled out behind them like a black ribbon. None of the headlights she’d seen had come close enough for her to get a look at the vehicles.
    “We’re not being followed.” His tone was calm, assured.
    She turned her head to look at him, gasped and put a hand to her neck as her muscles seized, sending a streak of pain down to her shoulder and up to her jaw. If she was this sore already, tomorrow was going to be ugly. She couldn’t let it slow her down. “You’re sure?”
    “I’m sure.” He frowned. “You positive you don’t want to get checked out at a clinic or something?”
    “Yes.” No way was she seeking medical help for something so trivial as whiplash and a cut on her scalp. But she was thirty-two now, and she already knew her body was going to take longer to heal than it would have even a few years ago.
    Not for the first time she questioned her sharpness. She might be at the peak of her game in terms of her skill set, but she wasn’t getting any younger and wouldn’t be able to do this kind of work forever.
    The femme fatale role required her to be young and sexy.