Samurai Game

CHAPTER 11

There was a small silence while the men seated at the table absorbed the idea. Whitney paired, perhaps married to a U.S. senator. What kind of carte blanche would he have for his experiments? The idea was daunting.

“Who is your informant?”

Sam threaded his fingers through Azami’s and held her hand under the table. He wanted to brush his mouth across her knuckles just to show her none of the things she said mattered. He wasn’t afraid of anything Whitney might have done to pair them together. He didn’t see how the man could have, not when Azami hadn’t seen Whitney since she was eight and he had joined the GhostWalker program a few years ago.

“You know I can’t give you that information any more than you’d give it to me,” Azami told Ryland. “You can choose to believe me or not, but the point is, once Whitney got his hands on Violet again, she ceased to be loyal to Freeman.”

Ryland sat back in his chair, assessing Azami for a long time. Sam knew that look. The man respected her, even liked her and was beginning to believe her. “I don’t believe Violet was ever loyal to Freeman. She might have been paired physically with him, but she wants power. She craves it like a drug. Freeman was a means to that power and she obviously controlled him. From all accounts, Violet was different from the other women from your childhood. She wanted status with Whitney and did whatever it took to get it. The more she climbed that ladder, the more power she wanted. Freeman wasn’t a man she fell in love with. The power was what she loved. For a while there she believed she could break away from Whitney and get the things she wanted. If he paired her with him, that allegiance is all about what she can get and the status she can achieve. If you’re right, Azami, she believes she’ll eventually end up in the White House.”

Azami’s breath left her lungs in a little rush. Sam resisted pulling her into his arms to hold her close to him when he heard that soft sound of relief. Ryland had given her the reassurance that Sam couldn’t. The GhostWalkers, paired by Whitney or not, loved one another and still, under even extreme circumstances, would choose to take the honorable path.

“Thank you,” Azami said with a graceful head bow toward Ryland. “I do not want to think that if Whitney gets his hands on one of us, he could turn us against each other.”

“He may think he can,” Ryland said, “but I seriously doubt it.”

The tension drained from Azami. Sam was aware that to his teammates she seemed at ease. He was the only one in the room who knew she was anxious. He wasn’t in her mind, but he could still feel that slight disturbance of her energy. Her gaze lifted to his face, drifting over the hard edges, taking him in. He was no prize, certainly not the handsomest man in the room, but he knew without a doubt, no one else would understand or be as loyal to her as he would.

Azami pressed her lips together and then switched her gaze back to Ryland. “That’s good to know.”

“If this information you’ve given us is true,” Ryland said, “Whitney’s probably been pumping arms and money into the rebel camp for some time in order to gain control of the diamond mines. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives and still it isn’t enough. Whitney must be determined to gain control, through the rebel forces, of that specific area-that particular diamond mine.”

“Can that diamond be so important to him?” Sam murmured aloud. “Back when Jack and Ken Norton went in with a team to rescue a senator, we believed that senator was part of a coalition trying to get rid of the GhostWalkers. Suppose we were right, but the senator double-crossed Whitney? Suppose Whitney and the senator were originally acting together to get a diamond or diamonds Whitney wanted and the negotiations didn’t go as planned because the senator had other ideas?”

Azami shrugged. “That’s entirely possible. Senator Freeman was being used as Whitney’s way into the White House. He paired him with Violet, thinking she would influence Freeman to do Whitney’s bidding. I know that Whitney provided money to back Freeman’s campaign using several corporations to donate.”

“Senator Freeman’s father and Whitney went to school together,” Sam told her. “He’s a powerful man in banking.”

Azami nodded. “He communicates with Whitney often. I think the idea, eventually, was to take control of the presidency. They groomed Freeman’s son for the position, paired him with Violet, and helped his political career.”

“But Violet got greedy,” Sam said. “Or maybe it was the senator. They broke with Whitney and aligned themselves with whoever it is in the White House that wants to get rid of the GhostWalkers. He would have to have access to classified information, so someone…”

“Like the chief of staff, Bernard Scheffield?” Azami suggested. “He was also in Whitney’s class, but was his archenemy.”

Ryland swung around to pin her with a stare. “Where the hell do you get this information? I knew they went to college together, but archenemy? I never heard that.”

Azami shrugged, looking smug. “They despise one another. Whitney often speaks of him in disparaging terms. He’s even gone so far as to say he’s working with foreign nationals to bring down the U.S. Whitney believes in a strong military and that every U.S. citizen should be protected, much like the Romans. If harm comes to a U.S. citizen, the retaliation should be swift and brutal.”

“Does he want us to go to war with everyone?” Ryland asked.

Azami shrugged again. “Whitney believes that Scheffield is advising the president against building up the military-that he wants to cut funds to the military and always, always chooses a diplomatic path. Whitney was so furious when American tourists were taken prisoner after hiking near the Iranian border that he actually discussed assassinating the chief of staff. Whitney told his private army that everyone knew those taken were just kids. He claimed the Iranian government was using them to try to force the U.S. into giving them what they wanted, all of which was probably true, but it didn’t warrant the military intervention that Whitney believed should have been taken immediately.”

“How long has this feud been going on?” Sam asked. “Not since they were in school?”

“Apparently Bernard Scheffield comes from money. Big money. He was considered a big deal in school. Not only did he have money and relatives in high places, he was the smartest kid in the school-until Whitney showed up.”

“So egos, then. We know Whitney has a massive ego.” Sam said.

“You have someone providing you with good intel,” Ryland said. “Are you absolutely certain you can trust him? Or her?”

Azami looked at him with cool eyes. If he was fishing, she wasn’t biting. “Yes. Absolutely.”

“You have no objections to Sam asking permission to marry you?” Ryland asked, suddenly changing the subject.

Sam swore under his breath at that deceptively mild tone. Ryland wasn’t finished.

Azami lowered her lashes so that they feathered across her high cheekbones like twin fans. “It is the custom in my family and a matter of respect.”

“Before you go that far, Sam,” Ryland continued, “perhaps Azami might explain how she came to know about second-generation Zenith and how she came to have those patches.”

Her heart rate jumped. She didn’t so much as blink, but the pad of his finger was over her pulse, and Sam felt that jump.

“I told you, I have an informant. The work was stolen, but I don’t know how they got it. I checked your wife’s computer myself and then had Daiki recheck it. That computer is clean, but Whitney has her work. He bragged to some of his researchers how smart his daughter is.”

“He has Lily’s work on Zenith?” Ryland pounced on that. “She only puts research notes on her personal computer. How the hell did Whitney get into her computer without any of us knowing?” He glared at Gator. “I thought Flame put alarms or something on her computer for this very reason.”

Gator shrugged. “You’ll have to talk to my wife about that, Rye, not me. I don’ know a thin’ about computers. She talks a foreign language when she gets goin’.”

“If Whitney has found a way to get into our computers again…” Ryland trailed off.

“We sweep the computers before we install software, and Daiki has written an excellent virus and Trojan protector program we install routinely with the software. I’m telling you, her computer is absolutely clean. He didn’t get her work from here,” Azami said. “Someone else has her work or you have a traitor here.”

Ryland sighed and swept both hands through his hair, clearly wondering how Whitney had managed to get his hands on Lily’s research. As far as he knew, the only other person they’d shared with was their boss, General Ranier.

“So your informant told you about Lily’s discovery,” Ryland prompted, giving up, for the moment, trying to figure out the modern technology warfare. “How did you get it?”

“I took it from his computer, of course,” Azami admitted. “Crossing computer swords with Daiki will get one cut down. Whitney sent us an inquiry about purchasing the satellite and in the email, there was a very clever virus, one that without Daiki’s new software program, we probably wouldn’t have been able to detect. To Daiki, that was a declaration of war. We replied and were in his computer just like that.”

“Does Whitney know?”

“He might eventually, but he won’t be able to trace it back to us.” She shrugged. “He’s got a brilliant mind, that brother of mine, and he can come up with incredible ways to protect our systems that would take years to unravel.”

“So what did you do with my wife’s research?”

“No one else has seen it. I took the formula from Whitney’s computer and ran it through my labs myself. It showed great promise, so when I was certain she believed she had the kinks worked out, I tested it on myself of course.”

Sam’s breath caught in his throat. The first generation Zenith killed the user unless they were given the antidote within a matter of hours. You should never have taken such a chance. It was impossible to remain silent. He allowed his anger to pour into her mind.

Those dark, exotic eyes shifted to his face. Melted. Turned hot. Not with answering anger but with desire. Everything inside him shifted to let her in. She didn’t change expression when she looked at him, only there in her eyes, but she didn’t need to. He felt her, flowing into his mind, filling him up, wrapping herself tightly around his mind and heart.

He wanted her. Not just that all-consuming urgent lust pounding in his blood, but with something softer and deeper and much more intense than the physical passion making such harsh demands on his body. He could hear his blood thundering in his ears and roaring through his veins, filling his cock so that he pulsed with need, but still, that hot, bright passion flowed with sheer tenderness he hadn’t known even existed in him until Azami had come along.

“You tested an unknown drug on yourself, knowing the first generation could kill the user?” Ryland sounded almost as outraged as Sam had been.

“I do not ask others to do what I wouldn’t,” Azami said. “I studied the first drug’s compound as well as your wife’s version. I spent months going over the data. Your wife definitely felt she’d made a breakthrough and everything that Whitney had on his computer regarding her work was first class. Her notes are detailed and easy to follow, where his are cryptic and difficult. He encodes everything. The man is paranoid.”

“Don’t try to lead me off the subject. That was sheer lunacy testing an unknown drug on yourself and you damn well know it.”

She leaned toward Ryland. “Fortunately, I don’t have anyone else to answer to,” she replied mildly, letting him know she wasn’t under his command.

“Your brothers didn’t object?”

“We don’t boss one another. I told them what I was doing and what to do if anything should go wrong. They didn’t like it any more than you did, but the second-generation Zenith proved to be a miracle drug when one needs it.”

“You own a satellite company; why would you need a drug like Zenith?” Ryland asked. Sam very carefully slid his thumb across her inner wrist in a caress, warning her at the same time. Ryland was no one’s dummy. His carefully worded questions were designed to trip her up, casually asked or not.

“We go into dangerous countries and often must protect ourselves. Other governments use different methods to get what they want-and they want my brother’s software and the high-resolution satellite with Eiji’s lens. Our work is very unpredictable, especially if we decide against selling to a corporation or country who believes they have a right to our equipment.”

Sam was astonished at her absolute composure. He knew he shouldn’t be; she’d shown nerves of steel during the fight in the forest, and from the moment Ryland had begun interrogating her, she had been poised and collected. She even flashed her serene smile at Ryland, as if he wasn’t quite bright and he should have figured out the answer without bothering her with such an obvious question.

“You always act as your brother’s bodyguard?” Ryland asked.

“Yes. Eiji insists as well, although, like Daiki, he’s far too valuable to the company. I like to think I’m as important as my two partners, but sadly, I don’t contribute the way they do. I’m the most expendable.”

Sam’s fingers tightened around her wrist in protest. Her tone told him she was telling him the absolute truth as she saw it.

“Our company is small, but the people working for us are ours. They depend on us for their livelihood. That means Daiki and Eiji must continue to keep moving us forward. Both are innovative and they have amazing ideas for the future.”

Ryland leaned back in his seat and regarded her steadily. “How do you know that your people can be trusted? You believe in them, I can see that, but it would be impossible to ensure that more than a tight circle of people would be loyal.”

Azami shook her head. “None of my people would betray us. I would trust them with my life.”

“Would you trust them with your brother’s lives?”

For the first time she hesitated. “I don’t trust anyone with the lives of my brothers,” she whispered. “They are all I have.”

Sam felt rather than heard that uncertain note in her voice-Thorn’s voice. The child who had been so carelessly thrown away by Whitney.

That is no longer the truth. You have me whether or not you have accepted me. I will always come for you, honey. I will be your family. Sam found it strange that things he’d never say out loud, he was perfectly fine with sending into her mind. There was an intimacy that transcended embarrassment when sharing the same mind. I mean what I say, Azami. You will always be able to count on me.

Sure, it was too fast. He knew Ryland was trying to keep him from falling, tumbling off a high cliff into a deep abyss, but Sam had already willingly stepped off the cliff and he had no desire to go back. She was worth the fall. If, in the end, she couldn’t make that commitment to him and she shattered his heart-well, he knew the cost before he’d made the jump.

Azami shook her head. Even that slight movement was graceful, all that silky hair sliding around her like a halo while long strands fell artfully down the back of her slender neck.

Ryland sighed loudly. “This is getting us nowhere. No orders have come down to the effect of our unit-and specifically Sam-heading to the Congo. The general gives me leeway to pick my own team best suited for a mission. I know their specific psychic skills. We no longer document when a skill shows itself. Lily develops exercises to strengthen them and as a team we practice drills, but even the general doesn’t have specific knowledge of what we do. It would be extremely unusual for the general to order an individual into the field. Especially…” He broke off.

“Sam,” Azami finished for him. “I’m aware that the general was responsible for Sam’s education.”

“He gave me a home just as your father gave you one,” Sam clarified.

She pressed her lips together and ducked her head, her mind closing off to him abruptly. Sam glanced at her sharply. There was something wrong, something she wasn’t willing to share with him. Azami had been honest with him almost from the beginning.

“Our orders don’t work like that,” Ryland reaffirmed. “I pick my own team.”

“It is easy enough to wait and see just how the orders come in,” Azami murmured.

Ryland glanced around the table at his men. “Have any of you heard that Senator Freeman died? Or that his life support was pulled?”

“You’ll hear it soon,” Azami assured, her voice confident. “They’ll put a great spin on it, one sure to gain the grieving widow the most sympathy possible. If Whitney’s grooming her for the White House, you can bet he’ll use his friends and those who owe him to position her for election. That has to be his plan. He wants that kind of power.”

“He wants to continue his experiments in peace,” Ryland said. “He doesn’t give a damn about the White House.”

Kadan suddenly leaned back in his chair, the creaking of the chair drawing Ryland’s attention. He had remained quiet, as they all had throughout the interrogation. Kadan rarely spoke, but when he did, everyone-including Ryland-listened. “She’s right, Rye; we know he was grooming Senator Freeman for the presidency. He threw money and his friends behind the man and gave up one of his gifted women in order to control the man. He wants the military backing. In a way, it would be good for us, because whoever our enemy in the White House is at present-and remember, Violet had thrown in with them-wants us out. Whitney having a friend there ensures we don’t get sent on suicide missions.”

Azami stirred, but Sam gently tightened his fingers.

“Whitney has to be stopped,” Kadan added. “He’s out of control. Any man willing to do the kind of experiments he does on human beings is a butcher. He’s lost all contact with reality and humanity. If he pairs up with Violet, we’re in real trouble.”

“I think it’s happened,” Azami said. “According to my informant, she went into that hangar cold and distant and came out flirtatious and animated with Whitney. I’ve studied the woman. She despised Whitney and all he did. She saw Freeman as a way out of the GhostWalkers and she took it and protected her husband as best she could. She tried to move heaven and earth to keep him alive and find a way to bring him back. The last thing she would want to do was to crawl in bed with Whitney again, yet there’s no doubt, that’s exactly what happened.”

“Figuratively,” Ryland said. “I don’t think he likes females or males.”

“But he’d sleep with Violet if that cemented the relationship and gave him power over her,” Kadan pointed out. “Rye, as much as I hate to admit it, I think Azami is right about this. It’s what Whitney would do.”

Ryland rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Seriously, we had enough problems when Violet and Whitney were opposed to one another. If they get together, we’re in for a rough ride.”

“And what about the men who shot me?” Sam wanted to know. “Did Whitney send them after all?”

Kadan sighed. “That gets a little complicated, Sam. I don’t believe they were after you. I think, again, Azami was correct when she said they were after her brothers.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “The Iranian soldiers came in via Mexico. The word we got was they were led into the United States through the drug tunnels the cartel has. These tunnels are elaborate and even heated in places. The mercenaries acquired the helicopters and Jeeps. The soldiers were taken to small planes and we tracked them to a small private airport.”

“The cartel was used before,” Azami said, “in an assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Is there some faction in Iran working with the cartel and now they’re making a grab for Daiki and Eiji?”

“I doubt if it’s some faction,” Kadan said. “But anything’s possible. At least we know how they got in to the country and how they got out again.”

“It isn’t the first time the cartel has been in bed with Iran,” Ryland said. “There are rumors that they’re training the cartel’s hit squads in terrorist tactics, but so far we don’t have anything concrete on that.”

Azami smiled. “A high-resolution satellite would change that for you. I’ve got pictures of camps.”

Ryland leaned toward her. “Have you shared that information with anyone?”

“Who would I share it with? I have a mission, and that’s to try to cut Whitney off from those who enable him in his brutal experiments.”

“How do you plan to go about doing that?” Ryland asked, his tone almost gentle.

Again, Sam tightened his fingers around Azami’s in warning, although he shouldn’t have worried. She shrugged her slender shoulders. “There is no clear path,” she said, her statement as much of an enigma as she appeared to be. “But I will find one.”

Kadan burst out laughing. “You’re not going to get anything out of that woman, Rye, so short of torturing her, you may as well throw in the towel. She beat you at your own game.”

Azami continued to look innocent as if she had no idea why all the men were smirking.

“If we’re finished here,” Sam said. “I have to go talk to Azami’s brothers.”

“Tonight?” Ryland asked. “Sam, you need rest.”

“That’s all I’ve been doing lately and I’m asking before she changes her mind.”

Ryland looked straight into Azami’s eyes. “Do you plan on changing your mind?”

“That is to be seen, isn’t it?” she said softly. “If we’re done here, I must return to my room and rest for a little while.”

“Will your brothers be awake?” Sam asked.

She smiled her mysterious smile. “Of course, they would not sleep while I am being asked questions by Captain Miller. They are as protective of me as I am them.”

Sam’s head came up. They’ve been listening this entire time?

Do you think they would leave me unprotected? Had your captain deemed me dangerous and attempted to arrest me, we would have fought our way to freedom, or died trying. Her eyes met his. Be very certain I am the kind of woman you wish to spend your life with.

Sam looked into those dark, liquid eyes. She possessed a kind of magic no other woman held for him. You’re exactly the kind of woman I want. Don’t think you’re getting out of this by trying to warn me off.

Her mouth turned up at the corners, a soft smile meant only for him, and then she very gracefully rose from the table, gave a slight bow to Ryland and the others, and slipped from the war room without a whisper of movement.

“Holy cow, Sam.” Gator fanned himself. “You’re goin’ to be in more trouble than I am if you marry that girl.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?” Ryland demanded. “She gives nothing away. She doesn’t show emotion at all. How can you know she feels the same way about you? Feels anything at all for you? Because I didn’t see it.”

“Public displays of affection are against her nature,” Sam said. “Believe me, she feels.”

“What’s not to like, Rye?” Kyle demanded. “She’s beautiful, exotic, and wealthy.”

“How’s it going to work, Knight?” Ryland asked Sam, ignoring Kyle. “She owns a company in Japan. Her family is there. You’re a soldier, sworn to protect your country. You’re a GhostWalker, and you damn well belong here-with us. Do you really think she’ll be happy living up in the mountains? It snows here and we can barely make it out. We have money to make life a little easier, yes, but she’s used to a different way of life altogether.”

“Is she?” Sam asked. He pushed himself to his feet, wanting to end the discussion. He’d already considered everything Ryland was telling him and he didn’t want to go over it again. What did a soldier have to give a woman like Azami? Why had she even looked at him twice?

“I’m not finished. Do me the courtesy of listening, since you can’t obey a damn order,” Ryland snapped.

Sam tightened his jaw, but dropped back into his chair. He’d been lucky that Ryland had backed off from the order. He rubbed his jaw, regarding his friend carefully. “I’m in love with her, Rye. I know all the objections. Do you think I haven’t thought of all of them myself? Yes, it happened too fast. I’ve been in her mind. I know what she’s like…”

“You know what she wants you to know. All of us have the ability to open up or close off and without a doubt, she’s that good.” Ryland sighed and got up to pace across the floor, picked up a mug, and poured hot coffee into it. “You and I both know she took Whitney’s pipeline out. She assassinated three people.”

Sam shrugged, careful now, on shifting, dangerous ground. “Maybe. I’ve assassinated a hell of a lot more than that. I don’t exactly have room to throw stones. None of us do.”

He studied Ryland’s face. They were more than friends. They’d gone to battle together and watched each other’s back. They had complete trust in each other. Ryland was concerned for him, that much was obvious, and Sam couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t that Ryland didn’t want to see him happy; hell, he hadn’t known he was unhappy. He’d been just fine until Azami had come along. No wonder Rye thought he was crazy.

Sam looked around the table at his silent companions. Normally they were all heckling one another and playing juvenile pranks on each other. They were all just as concerned as Ryland. He didn’t know what to say to reassure them. There wasn’t a single part of him that had a doubt that Azami was the woman for him-yet what could he give her? He couldn’t argue with Ryland, not because he wasn’t certain of his choice, but he wasn’t certain how he could be her choice.

“You aren’t going to be reasonable about this, are you?” Ryland asked.

“No. I made up my mind. I’m asking her brothers for permission. I don’t want to wait. I want her with me. She knows I’m a soldier and that I belong here. I know I can help her in her work just as she’ll be an asset in mine.”

Ryland’s frown deepened. “She isn’t part of this team.”

“Not any more than the other women, Rye, but she’s a GhostWalker and she belongs with us. She fits with me.”

“Are we going to talk about what she said? About the orders coming down to us?”

Again Sam shrugged. “It won’t be the first or last time one of us has been targeted. If she’s right, we’ll handle it.”

“Sam…” Ryland started to say something and abruptly cut himself short.

“Say it.” Anger welled up. He looked around the room. “I know exactly what you’re thinking. I knew it the moment Azami mentioned those orders and you made such a big deal out of telling her you pick your own team. This isn’t the first time anyone’s implicated the general in wrongdoing. Yes, he was Colonel Higgens’s friend. He knew Whitney. He knows a lot of people. He wouldn’t sell me down the river because a madman asked him to. Even if he specifically names me to go, Rye, that doesn’t mean the orders come from him.”

“I’m not saying you should suspect the general of being in league with Whitney,” Ryland hedged. “It just makes good sense to watch your back. People aren’t always what they seem, Sam. The people we can trust are the ones in this room, not out there.” He pointed out the window. “And just for good measure, the general is the one person we shared Lily’s work on second-generation Zenith with.”

Sam pushed down anger. “The general has been a father to me. I joined the service to be like him. Don’t stand there and tell me you’re not suspicious of him, because you’ve been suspicious from the day everything went to hell. You’re a paranoid son of a bitch, Rye. And now you’re suspicious of Azami. You think everything’s a conspiracy and everyone is involved.”

Ryland’s eyebrow shot up. “Aren’t they? Isn’t everything a conspiracy?”

Sam didn’t smile as he knew Ryland wanted him to. General Ranier had fallen under suspicion several times and each time he’d come back clean, yet his unit didn’t altogether trust him. Sam loved the general. He’d given up a lucrative job in the civilian world to follow the general into the service. He loved and respected the general more than anyone else in the world.

Sam ducked his head. That wasn’t entirely the truth. Ryland had come to take that place, and somehow, the general had slipped down a few notches, which was why Sam was so belligerent and defensive when the subject was brought up. He felt guilty. Plain and simple he felt guilty because more than once, he’d had the hairs on the back of his neck stand up around the general and he hadn’t said a word to anyone else. He was guilty either way. Not telling his team his strange feelings, and not believing in the man who had taken him off the streets.

What had made him worry? Sam shook his head to clear it. Little things. Shadows. Whispers. The general had always had a schedule, a fixed routine, and he stuck to it. The last year, there had been phone calls, meetings at odd hours. Ranier was responsible for national security, so a clandestine meeting shouldn’t have raised an alarm, but Sam had sensed something different in the general and twice, when he’d asked, Ranier had avoided meeting his eyes. That was entirely wrong.

“What is it, Sam?” Ryland asked.

Sam detested the quiet sympathy in Rye’s tone, as if he’d already tried and condemned the general. “Nothing,” Sam said. “Nothing at all.”

“She is beautiful,” Ryland finally admitted.

“She’s a hell of a fighter,” Sam said with a small smile, willing to allow the subject to be changed. “She’ll be a big help working with Daniel, Rye. She learned to teleport at an earlier age than I did. She made more mistakes and is probably more aware of the dangers to a child.”

Ryland nodded, not quite assenting. Sam knew it would take a lot for both Ryland and Lily to trust an outsider with their child. Right now, he didn’t want to stop and reassure Ryland. His heart was pounding and his mouth was dry. He was going to put his neck under the blade of a samurai sword tonight.

He pushed himself up again and held on to the table until his protesting wound stopped the persistent throbbing. He wouldn’t have minded a glass of whiskey right now, but he wasn’t backing out. If asking her brothers permission to marry her was what it took to get into their family, he was all for it. He started out of the room and then hesitated, turning back. He couldn’t just leave them all exposed.

“When we teleport, we need to know exactly where we’re projecting our body to. We can’t just arrive in the middle of the room where a table might be. We have to have eyes at least and sometimes ears. I use cameras. Very small cameras when I’m going to teleport in a crowded area. I study the terrain ahead of time. And in case you’ve forgotten, I always have backup. Azami as good as told you she did as well.”

Comprehension dawned immediately. Ryland swore under his breath. “The room is bugged.”

“She had to have had eyes in here,” Sam said. “And if you were her brother and she was about to sit on a hot seat, what would you do?”

“Find the bugs,” Ryland said, sounding tired. “I hope to hell you’re right about that woman, Sam. Gator, go wake up that woman of yours. I need some answers. We need her to run the computers for us.”

“Tonight, Boss?” Gator complained. “I had other ideas.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“We all did. Hop to it.”

“What about Sam?” Tucker asked. “His woman is the one who got us into this.”

“I’m wounded.” Sam clutched his abdomen dramatically and staggered with quick, long strides so that he made it to the doorway in three quick steps.

Jonas coughed, sounding suspiciously like he’d muttered “bullshit” under his breath. Kyle threw a peanut at him and Jeff surfed across the table in his bare socks to try to catch him before he bolted.

“He’s in love, boys, let him go. He’ll probably just get laughed at,” Tucker said. “Do you really think Azami’s brothers are going to allow her to hook up with Sam? She’s fine and he’s… well… klutzy.”

“That hurt,” Sam said, turning back.

“Did you get a good look at those boys? I thought Japanese men were supposed to be on the short side, but Daiki was tall and all muscle. His brother moves like a fucking fighter,” Tucker added. “They might just decide to give you a good beating for having the audacity to even think you could date their sister, let alone marry her.”

“Fat help you are,” Sam accused. “I could use a little confidence here.”

Kyle snorted. “You don’t have a chance, buddy.”

“Goin’ to meet your maker,” Gator added solemnly.

Jeff crossed himself as he hung five toes off the edge of the table. “Sorry, old son, you don’t have a prayer. You’re about to meet up with a couple of hungry sharks.”

“Have you ever actually used a sword before?” Kadan asked, all innocent.

Jonas drew his knife and began to sharpen it. “Funny thing about blade men, they always like to go for the throat.” He grinned up at Sam. “Just a little tip. Keep your chin down.”

“You’re all a big help,” Sam said and stepped out into the hall.

This was the biggest moment of his life. If they turned him down, he was lost. Azami wouldn’t go against her brothers. She might go her own way in battle, but she would never defy her family over something so important as a spouse. He wished he’d asked her a few more questions about the customs. He had no idea what would be an insult and what wouldn’t.

Sam moved through the house to the second wing. Lily and Ryland’s home contained all the offices and a maze of halls that led to Lily’s laboratories. The guest wing adjoined the meeting rooms, giving guests and the resident family plenty of privacy. Each of the members of Team One had their own home, built in the forest but protected by the main compound. The training center was on the other side of the laboratories, a large complex where the team could practice on a daily basis. There was a large indoor pool to work out in as well as an armory, although each home contained a separate armory.

The small hospital was connected to the laboratories. Sam was grateful that Lily had chosen to have him in her small guest bedroom sometimes used as an infirmary for a team member recovering from a wound that didn’t need around the clock care. Sam disliked hospitals on principle. Staying in Lily’s house was always warm and friendly. All the men stopped by and visited and even baby Daniel came to see him.

He stopped in front of the largest guest room. It had a large sitting room and private bathroom for important business guests such as Daiki and Eiji Yoshiie. There was no sound, but he knew they were in there waiting for him. They had bugged the war room in order to better protect their sister. He had no doubt that in spite of the fact that they weren’t psychic, both men were skillful warriors.

He couldn’t believe that his hands were clammy and his heart pounding. He’d gone into full-scale battle with less apprehension. Both men spoke excellent English, so there was no language barrier, and if truth be told, he spoke fluent Japanese. Standing in front of the door, he took a moment to inspect his clothing. He was barefoot, wore jeans and a carelessly buttoned shirt that had a few bloodstains clinging to it. Damn. He should have changed.

What the hell was he doing? He should have carried her off like a caveman. He could persuade her to marry him. Wine. Sex. Candlelight. Yeah, he could manage that. But asking stone-face swordsmen for permission? They were probably laughing at his predicament. He would be if Azami was his sister.

Sam took a breath and knocked on the door before he talked himself out of it-a polite knock when he wanted to pound until the door broke down and he just demanded they hand her over to him. He wasn’t going away without her. If she thought about it too long, she’d change her mind. What sane woman wouldn’t?

The door swung open slowly and Eiji’s broad frame filled the doorway. He stared at Sam without expression, his dark eyes thoughtful. “May I help you?”

If the man was a team member, Sam would have told him to can the crap; after all, they knew exactly why he’d come. He gave a slight bow instead and tried a tentative smile.

“Please excuse my attire; I had no other clothes with me.” He nearly groaned. That had been a little reminder that he’d gone into battle, but maybe not such a good idea. He’d been wounded. They might think he wasn’t a good enough soldier to protect their sister. “The matter is urgent or I wouldn’t have disturbed you so late. I wish to speak to you and your brother.”

Eiji studied him a moment longer and then stepped back, his robes flowing around him as he did, using that same fluid motion Sam recognized in Azami. The apartment was lit with candles rather than the harsher lights overhead. A Go game was laid out between two chairs on the smaller coffee table, and clearly they’d been playing. He couldn’t help but notice that a long samurai sword lay inches from Daiki’s fingertips, enclosed in the ornate scabbard.

Daiki rose and gave that studied, perfect bow that made the two men seem as if they were traditional warriors of old. “I had hoped that your wounds were not so bad,” he greeted. “Thank you for looking after Azami.”

Sam breathed a sigh of relief and allowed himself a smile. “I think it was mutual.”

Daiki waved him toward a chair. Sam nearly groaned. Not another chair. He could get in and out of one, but he looked like an old man doing it. He took a deep breath and took the plunge.

“I don’t know how this is done in your family, so I’m just going to get right to the point. I would like your permission to marry Azami. I know I’m not much to look at and I’m in a high-risk job, but we’re… we… fit. I’ll make her happy. I know I will.”

“Her happiness is not of paramount importance,” Daiki said. “Her safety is our first priority. Azami would throw herself in front of a bullet for the ones she loves.”

Sam heard the dark warning in Azami’s brother’s voice. Daiki Yoshiie was definitely a man of confidence. He talked with great intelligence, his voice cultured and smooth, yet he moved like the whisper of the wind. The man would hold his own in any fight-if you ever saw him. Their father had trained them in the way of the samurai and it had become their way of life. They chose to put the principles into business, but nevertheless, they could use them just as easily if needed to defend themselves.

“As would I,” Sam said. He didn’t know what else to say. Daiki told him the truth about Azami and Sam knew it was true. There would be no stopping what he knew was central to her character any more than they could stop the need to protect those he loved in him. He was certain that simple statement was a test to see his reaction. Azami was Azami and there was no changing her, nor would he want to do so.

“She is her own woman. I will protect her with my life and love and value her for all my days.” He felt silly saying the truth aloud to strangers even if the men were Azami’s brothers.

Daiki studied his face for a long time before he stepped forward and opened his palm. “This ring was made by our father for the man who would see beyond the past and bring her happiness. You are her choice.”

The ring was small, delicate like Azami, but intricate, just as her personality was. The blossom of a thistle nestled in the middle, surrounded by thorns. Along the band was etched a detailed samurai sword. The work had been done by a master craftsman. Sam stared down at that tiny symbol of a man’s commitment to a woman and knew that the artist had been equally gifted and detailed when it came to making weapons.

“I would have liked to have met your father,” he murmured.

Daiki bowed as he placed the ring in Sam’s hand. “He would have liked to have met you.”

Sam closed his fingers around the ring, a strange soaring sensation in his heart.

“My father found my brother and me in the street just as he did Azami. Several nights a week would we walk on those streets with him. When he found her, she was surrounded by those who would have used her for the child sex trade. They knew him and knew he would have fought to the death for her. He saw her bravery, right there in that horrible alley, the light in her eyes, the courage she possessed. She has a spirit no monster could slay. That’s what my father saw in her, and he knew a man would come along who would see that same spirit. I’m glad it is you.”

Sam bowed slightly. “Where is she?” He could barely get the words out. He needed to see her. Right then. Right now. He had expected her to be there, but he knew little of the traditions of her family.

“I believe she has gone to your home to welcome you,” Daiki answered.

Sam’s stomach did a slow somersault while his heart lifted.