Diana Palmer Collected 1-6: Soldier of Fortune / Tender Stranger / Enamored / Mystery Man / Rawhide and Lace / Unlikely Lover

Simultaneously she pulled the trigger again, forgetting to brace the gun in her terror. She was knocked to the ground when she fired. There was a burst of gunfire and, suddenly, a huge, horrible explosion that rocked the ground.

“All right, let’s hit it!” First Shirt yelled out.

J.D. dragged Gabby to her feet, and his face showed such terrible fury that she closed her eyes. He didn’t even speak. He jerked the gun out of her hands and pushed her ahead of him as he bent to lift Martina to her feet.

“Are you all right, señorita?” Laremos asked gently as he joined Gabby.

“My shoulder hurts a little, but I’m…I’m fine,” she whispered. She started to turn around, to look behind them, but J.D. was suddenly there.

“Don’t look,” he said in a tone that dared her to argue. “Get moving.”

He was a stranger now, a man she’d never known. His face was like stone, and there was something wild and dangerous in his eyes and in the set of his big body. She didn’t say another word. She kept quiet all the long way through the jungle.

“Where are we going?” she finally asked Laremos as they kept moving through the endless jungle.

“In a circle, around my finca,” he told her. “We have hopes that by now the government troops have rounded up the smugglers. Apollo has gone in to check.”

“So quickly?” she asked, brushing back a strand of matted hair from her sweaty face.

“So quickly,” he confirmed. “Your shoulder, it is better?”

“A little bruised, that’s all,” she said. She felt sick to her stomach. All she wanted was to lie down and forget the past two days altogether.

“I’m so tired,” Martina murmured. “Can’t we rest?”

“Soon,” J.D. said, gently now. “Just a little longer, honey.”

“Okay, big brother. I’ll trudge along. Gabby, are you holding up okay?”

“Yes, thanks, Martina.”

There was a sudden crackling sound and J.D. and the others whirled with their guns leveled as Apollo came leaping through the growth, grinning.

“We’re clear!” he shouted.

“What about the men in the terrorist camp?” Gabby asked.

“They scattered,” First Shirt replied. “The government troops would have shot them if they’d found them.”

“How sad for them,” Martina said, but her eyes flashed. “I do not pity them, not after the ordeal they put me through. Oh, I want my Roberto!”

“We’ll send for him the minute we get to my finca,” Laremos promised her. “The very minute.”

Gabby dropped back to put a comforting arm around the smaller, older woman and smiled reassuringly. “It won’t be long,” she said.

“Absolutely,” Laremos agreed. “There. We are home.”

The finca looked so good that Gabby wanted to kiss it. The outside bore no marks of violence, but inside it was a different story. The furniture was wrecked, the floors scarred. Laremos’s dark eyes glittered as he saw the evidence of the brief occupation.

“I’m sorry about your house, señor,ȁ Martina said gently.

“Señora, that you are safe is the most important thing,” Laremos said with pride, turning to bow in her direction. “My poor house can be repaired. But your life, once lost, would not have been restored.”

“I owe you a great debt,” Martina said. Her clothes were torn and her hair hung in wild strands. But she looked spunky for all that. She reached up and kissed Laremos on his tan cheek. “Muchas gracias.”

Laremos looked embarrassed. “My pleasure, señora. I regret that I could not have done more.”

“Is everybody all right?” Gabby asked, looking around at the battle-scarred little group with concerned eyes.

“Gabby, you’ll spoil us if you worry about us,” Apollo said, chuckling.

“Not me.” First Shirt glowered at Apollo. “Worry all you want, Gabby. I’ll just sit here like a sponge and soak it up.”

The others joined in, all except J.D. He kept to himself, looking dangerous and unapproachable until Martina and Gabby left to go up to the room Gabby had shared with him.

“A bath.” Martina sighed, taking advantage of the facilities. “I feel so dirty!”

“It must have been horrible,” Gabby said, digging out fresh clothes.

“Not as horrible as it could have been. I wasn’t abused, at least. That surprised me.” She came out of the shower minutes later, toweling her long hair dry. “Your turn. I imagine you feel as mucky as I did.”

“Yes, I do.” Gabby laughed. “My shoulder hurts and I feel shaky all over.”

“You saved J.D.’s life,” was Martina’s quiet comment. “I can never thank you enough for that. But don’t expect him to,” she added dryly. “I think his pride’s dented. He’s very quiet.”

“He’s been through a lot. They all have. What a great bunch of guys,” she said fervently.

“Tell me!” Martina laughed, and despite the weariness in her drawn face, there was joy. “I’d like to kiss every one of them twice. I can’t tell you how I felt when I saw J.D. come breaking in that door! Wasn’t it lucky that he had that military training?”

Obviously Martina didn’t know everything about J.D.’s past, and Gabby wasn’t about to betray him. “It sure was,” she agreed and disappeared into the bathroom.

Her shoulder was turning blue, but she was grateful to be alive. She still couldn’t believe what she’d done. It had been pure instinct when she saw the weapon pointing at J.D. Let him be angry at her—she couldn’t be sorry about what she’d done. Even if the man had shot her, it would have been worth it to deflect his aim. If anything had happened to J.D., she might as well have died. She loved him—so much!

The next day, Roberto drove in from the airport and there was a wildly emotional reunion. Gabby, watching, couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy she felt. Roberto was crying as he embraced his wife, and unashamedly at that. Gabby’s eyes darted to J.D., who hadn’t said a single word to her since they’d come out of the jungle. They’d all had a good night’s sleep, Martina and Gabby sharing the big double bed this time, but his dark mood hadn’t lifted. He wouldn’t even look at Gabby, and that hurt most of all. She’d only wanted to save him, but it seemed that she’d committed some unforgivable sin.

Chapter Six (#ulink_1e9031a1-5256-5589-b631-42accd97c7f5)

Roberto was very Italian, if someone who lived in Sicily could be called Italian, Gabby mused. He was of medium height and thin, with a charm that was immediately apparent when he bent over Gabby’s hand.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said. He grinned, glancing at J.D., who was talking quietly with Apollo in the living room. “Martina’s brother mentions you often.”

“Does he?” Gabby asked conversationally, privately wondering whether she even had a job to go back to, now that it was all over. J.D. still hadn’t looked in her direction.

“It was bad, Gabby,” Martina said from her husband’s side, her dark eyes meeting the other girl’s green ones warmly. “Jacob and the others…well, it was a miracle that any of us got out. He’ll get over it. It has been a long time since he was in the service, you know. It had to affect him.”

“Yes, of course,” Gabby said, smiling faintly. She couldn’t let Martina know the truth. “You look awfully good for somebody who went through what you did.”

Martina clung to her husband’s arm and smiled. “I have my whole world back again. I feel good. Just a little shaken and homesick.” She glanced up at Roberto. “Can we go back today?”