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“Just do it!”
My heart pounded in my chest and nausea bubbled in my throat. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand my ground. Finally, I heard her voice coaxing the little girl inside. When the door closed, I knew I was about to pay for taking his daughter away from him.
With his first step, my legs shook. My eyes tracked his boots, and my body tensed as I prepared for the hit I knew was coming. I felt like I was on the verge of hyperventilating. Spots started to fill my vision, but if I passed out now, who would protect that little girl and Vira?
But then just as I thought I would pass out, he stopped and cocked his head slightly, his voice soft. “Isabelle.”
My mouth opened, but no sound came out. I couldn’t seem to make anything work as I stared at the man. I forced my hands into fists, then opened them again. He watched the movement, but made no attempt to approach me. Why wasn’t he charging? Why wasn’t he attacking?
“You’re Rafe’s sister.”
He knew Rafe.
“I’m Jason. I worked with him for a long time. We’ve actually met before.”
I didn’t remember that. When would I have ever met this man?
He acted like it was totally normal to keep talking when I just stood there like a statue.
“I was there the day they brought you to the hospital.”
If he knew Rafe… “If you worked for him, why didn’t you try to rescue him?”
“It’s complicated. We could only get two helicopters on the island. One was to rescue another woman and the other was the medevac for you. Since I worked with Rafe, there was no way I could show my face. Zavala would have recognized me.”
That made sense. But then… “You could have gone on the other helicopter.”
“Cash made the final decision.”
“Cash isn’t here to verify that,” I said skeptically.
He nodded slowly, his eyes scanning my face. “I get it.”
He didn’t say anything else, but he didn’t move for the door either. Why wasn’t he trying to get around me?
“Are you going to just stand there?”
“My daughter is safe inside. I’ll stand here until you decide to let me in.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s your house.”
“No, I mean, why would you let your daughter stay inside? You don’t know me. You don’t know Vira.”
“But I know everyone at OPS. They wouldn’t let you stay here if they didn’t trust you.”
“Then why did you yell at your daughter?”
“Because it’s rude to run up to other people’s houses.”
“You were angry at her.”
He shifted slightly, his eyes softening the longer he looked at me. I didn’t understand what was going on. “I yelled at her to stop to get her attention. That’s not the same as being angry.”
I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. It seemed like he was being honest, but it could all be a lie. Men were very good at being deceptive.
Be a good girl and I’ll give you anything you want.