Read Online Guardian Agent by Dana Marton - Free Book Online

where he was hiding. People go to familiar ground when they’re on the run and all that. Nothing about Venice in the diary, I tell you that. But there were pages and pages of you.” Brent sneered.
    Jasmine blushed scarlet and wouldn’t meet Gabe’s eyes.
    He was too angry at Brent, too worried about her being in the middle of all this danger to feel amused. But he promised himself to enjoy the hell out of this little piece of information the second they were safe.
    First, he had to get out of this jam. “Tekla got away. He’s talking to the authorities right now. Whoever has been protecting you won’t take the fall for this. He’ll make you the scapegoat.”
    Brent flashed a grin of pure conceit. “I have enough on the man to be sure he’ll never turn against me.”
    So he hadn’t simply bought a politician with the promise of a share in the gold. It all came down to blackmail. “What’s next then?” He needed to keep the man talking. His gun hand was almost free.
    “I shoot you now, then wait for the B Team to call me with the news that they have Tekla. Once I know I no longer need your girlfriend for anything, I’ll have some fun with her before I shoot her.”
    Jasmine stood frozen—eyes wide, cheeks pale—looking lost in some nightmarish memory. She was too stunned to struggle.
    Come on, honey , Gabe tried to tell her with his eyes. Do something. Anything. All I need is a second of distraction.
    “You know, reading all those teenage fantasies wasn’t as bad as it sounds.” Brent leered at her, but was still talking to Gabe. “Let’s see what she does with a real man. Maybe I won’t shoot you just yet and let you watch. If you say, pretty please.”
    “Go to hell.”
    “I take that as a no.” Brent raised his gun.
    That brought Jasmine out of her frozen fear, and she launched himself at the man who hadn’t expected much resistance from her. Big mistake.
    “What the hell—” He turned to deal with her.
    Which was all Gabe needed. He shook off the rest of the bricks and took aim. He didn’t try to go easy on this one. He put a bullet right into Brent’s head, in the middle of his forehead.
    Another shot rang out at the same time, slamming into the man’s chest.
    Troy stood in a doorway, his face grim as he looked at Gabe. He must have heard it all. “Let’s get out of here before the others gather themselves and someone gets killed in the confusion.”
    His scarred face looked even more haunted than usual as he watched Jasmine, and Gabe remembered the rumor he’d heard from another guy on the team. The same explosion that had messed up Troy’s voice and face had also killed the woman he loved. And for the first time, Gabe had an inkling of what that could mean to a man.
    “Thanks for the help.” He crawled from under the rubble, ignoring the pain that shot up his leg.
    Troy nodded, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t you ever knock me out again.”
    “Sorry about that.” But his attention was on Jasmine who still stood in the same spot, her eyes riveted on the blood flowing around her feet.
    Brent had grabbed on to her as he’d fallen, his lifeless fingers still circling her ankle.
    “I’ll make sure we have a clear path out of here.” Troy took off.
    Gabe kicked Brent’s arm away and pulled Jasmine into his arms. Nothing ever had felt more right.
    “I have the envelope,” she whispered as she lifted her face to his. “Are we okay now? Is it over?”
    He wanted to kiss her more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. And then he did, just a slow brush of his lips against hers. He needed to go easy on her. She’d just been through hell. But she tightened her arms around his neck, and kissed him right back.
    A long, life-altering moment passed before they pulled apart.
    “I’m here. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he promised. Ever.

Chapter Ten

    His room at Camp Darby in Livorno seemed more and more like a cage with every passing day. He’d brought