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CHAPTER NINETEEN

Laryn stayed as close to Tate’s back as she dared. She didn’t want to be a hindrance to anything he needed to do, but she couldn’t make herself break contact with him. He was her lifeline. Literally.

She’d thought that was it—Mert would get her back to her room and rape her. That was his plan; she’d had no doubt whatsoever.

It was impossible to get away from him though.

He was bigger, stronger, and wasn’t weak from spending the last several days in a dungeon.

The men around her were no help, as they were in the same boat she was…

forced to work for Altan. It was easy to tell that no one was there willingly.

They were most likely being blackmailed or threatened in order to keep working.

Though, none of them had the expertise needed to outfit the choppers properly .

It was equally obvious that the workers were rotated in and out of the rooms on the floor she’d been taken to earlier that afternoon.

Probably several men in each room, based on the number of workers on the floor at one time, versus the doors she saw in the hallway.

All locked in, only brought out to toil in the hangar, while other workers took their places in the rooms. It was a miserable way to live, made clear in the lack of enthusiasm those around her had for their jobs.

It wasn’t until Mert had gotten her close to the stairs that reality really set in.

Tate wasn’t coming, at least not yet, and her time was up.

Mert was going to assault her, but Laryn wasn’t willing to go down without a fight.

She’d never stop resisting, stop fighting.

Mert might claim her as his wife, but she’d never consent.

Never be anything but a pain in his ass.

When he hit her, it hurt. A lot. More than when he’d hit her the first time. The pain shocked her enough that she’d sat on the floor, stunned for a moment, and that’s when Mert made his move. He grabbed her again and pulled her up the stairs.

Laryn fought with all she had, but in the hallway, when he’d grabbed her hair and literally began dragging her behind him, all she could do was try to hold onto his wrist to lessen the pain.

Then one second she was being dragged toward her room, and the next, she was free, lying on the floor staring at the man she loved who’d appeared as if out of thin air.

Tate.

He was there.

He’d come for her.

Pyro had grabbed hold of her and pulled her away from Tate and Mert, but not before she saw Tate beating the crap out of the man who’d surely been going to sexually assault her.

She didn’t look away, not even when Tate put his gun against Mert’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

And then she was in Tate’s arms. The relief she felt had been immense.

Things were kind of fuzzy after that, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything but the relief she felt being in Tate’s arms.

They went up the stairs to the roof and the night air felt like a new beginning. Laryn felt as if she were floating. She had no fears anymore. Tate was there. He’d keep her safe.

She had no idea how much time went by when she was abruptly shifted behind Tate and all four men formed a human shield between her and Altan.

Seeing him actually snapped Laryn out of the semi-trance she’d been in since Mert’s death.

Now she felt anger building. Anger at the situation Altan had put her in.

At his arrogance in thinking he could force not only her, but everyone else in that hangar to do his bidding.

At thinking he could just give her away to Mert.

“It’s Altan,” she told Tate, but it was obvious he knew exactly who the desperate man was in front of them.

“Please! Stay!” he begged, glancing at the men, at the guns pointed at his head, at Laryn. “I need you!”

“You need to shut up,” Tate countered.

“Everything I’ve worked for, all the contacts I’ve made, they’ll be for naught if I don’t get those MH-60s retrofitted. You’re the best there is. You know all there is to know about those machines. I need you! ”

Laryn opened her mouth to tell him to fuck off. That she didn’t care if he was executed by his own government for not meeting whatever promises he’d made them. But Tate spoke before she could.

“Let’s talk about those contacts,” he said quietly. “How’d you get so many Americans to do your bidding?”

“Money,” Altan blurted succinctly, as if it was obvious. As Laryn supposed it was.

“How’d you find them in the first place?” Pyro pressed.

“The dark web is a vast place, filled with people looking for money in exchange for information. Look…Laryn. I am sorry ab out how all this went down. But I promise things will be different now. You don’t want a husband?

Fine. Is it more money you want? I can do that.

I just need you to stay. You don’t understand?—”

“Don’t even look at her, asshole,” Edge growled.

“What’s the matter? You been operating without your leaders’ knowledge or permission?” Chaos asked.

The look on Altan’s face answered the question without him having to say a word.

“You have,” Tate said darkly. “Do they know anything about your little operation here? How you’re using intimidation and threats to get the men to work? Or how you kidnapped Laryn to get her on your little project?”

“They don’t care as long as they get their precious choppers!” Altan yelled. “And the ends justify the means! When they get an MH-60 ready to go that can hold its own against any other military aircraft in the region, they’ll give me everything I was promised. Money, land, respect!”

Laryn was disgusted.

“And it doesn’t matter how many lives you ruin to get there,” Tate retorted.

“The men here are being compensated. Food, a room to sleep, work.”

“They’re locked inside those rooms!” Edge exclaimed. “And I’m guessing the food is shit too. And should we even talk about the men in the dungeon?”

Altan looked shocked. “How do you know about that?”

“We know everything,” Tate said.

Laryn glanced behind her at the glorious sound of an MH-60, now coming in hot.

“We know you kidnap innocent women to force them to do your bidding. That you have no problem standing by while she’s assaulted.

That you think nothing of ruining the lives of the men you’ve forced to work for you…

all for what? Money? Perceived po wer? The fact that your government has no idea the lengths you’ll go to for those things makes me feel a hell of a lot better,” Tate bit out.

“If you leave, you’ll regret it,” Altan said with hate in his voice.

The fake penitence was now gone. Laryn shivered at the venom she heard.

Toward her . “You brought this on yourself! You should have accepted my first offer. If you leave now, this is going to become an international incident. I wouldn’t be surprised if the US found itself in the middle of a huge scandal, maybe even a war with my country!

You can’t just cross our borders without suffering the consequences.

One way or another, I’ll get you back. Mark my words, I?—”

Laryn jumped at the loud report from Tate’s weapon.

Altan fell to the roof with a thud, just as the MH-60 hovered in the air at the edge of the roof.

“Ready to go?” Tate asked calmly, as if this was just another day of work for him. And she guessed in some ways, it was.

Pyro was already running toward the chopper, and the other two men waited nearby, their weapons at the ready, just in case anyone else decided to check out what was happening on the roof.

Laryn’s gaze went to Altan, who was lying motionless, blood slowly pooling around him. She looked back at Tate. “Is he dead?”

“Yes. No way in hell was I leaving him alive to come after you again.”

“You were going to kill him all along?” she asked.

“Of course. Officially, that’s the reason we’re here.”

“What were all those questions about? Why didn’t you guys shoot him as soon as he showed up on the roof?”

“Intel,” Edge said, answering her question. “We didn’t think we’d get much, but if there was anything he could tell us about how he’d found his moles in our military, we needed that info. ”

Laryn wrinkled her nose. “Did you get anything out of what he said?”

“Plenty. Come on, let’s get the hell out of here, yeah?” Tate didn’t sound irritated or anxious. He gestured toward the chopper. “Our ride’s here.”

Edge got on one side of her while Tate was glued to the other.

Chaos was close on their heels as they hurried toward where Pyro and the chopper waited.

Buck and Obi-Wan hadn’t landed on the roof.

One skid was resting on the very edge, and they were hovering in the air.

She was impressed all over again at the skills of these pilots.

Pyro and Tate lifted her into the back of the chopper, and she quickly moved to the side. It was a matter of seconds before the other men had joined her and they were rising into the sky. Buck and Obi-Wan gunned it, and they shot away from the hangar.

The last thing Laryn saw was the dark shape of Altan Osman, lying dead in a pool of his own blood on the roof.

Tate placed a pair of headphones over her ears before putting a pair over his own.

“Should we expect any kind of retaliation?” Buck asked in a tense, serious tone.

“Negative. Osman was rogue. Working outside the government,” Edge told his friend.

“I mean, they knew what he was tasked with doing, and were probably giving him money to get those choppers retrofitted, but it seems pretty clear they have no idea he’s been kidnapping, threatening, and blackmailing his workforce. ”

“Fuck. Seriously?” Obi-Wan asked.

“He said you guys being here is going to cause an international incident. That his government wasn’t going to be pleased you’d come here without permission. Did I cause a war?” Laryn asked, terrified to hear the answer.