Page 20 of Protective Assignment (Warrior Peak Sanctuary #1)

She paced back and forth in the cabin as she waited for Cade to return, wondering how much longer they were going to be away from the lodge.

It had been nearly a day since she had last seen him, and her mind had been torturing her with questions about where he was and what was happening to him. She didn’t know if she could take much more of the waiting.

She was so worried about him, worried about what might have happened out there.

What if he had encountered the Shepards?

She knew all too well what they were capable of.

If he had been hurt as a result of going after them, she would never be able to forgive herself.

Because she knew what they were doing here, and that it was her fault they had managed to creep their way across the states and so close to the lodge.

This place should have been safe. It was what they had tried to create here, a space where those dealing with physical or mental trauma could recover. The thought of being the one to ruin that was more than she could take.

And after the talk she’d had with Hannah, River had decided she needed to tell Cade how she felt about him.

She couldn’t leave this place with it unsaid.

Even if it might be more complicated than she was able to wrap her head around, he deserved to know.

She needed him to understand that her feelings for him were real.

That even though she had not been completely truthful and open about her past, when she looked to her future, she wanted him to be a part of it.

She had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for him to come back to their cabin, and now it was the next morning and there was still no sign of him—no sign of anyone who had gone out on that mission, actually.

She had the brief thought about going out to try to find him, or even asking Hannah if she knew where they went and ask her to take River there.

She knew that was crazy, though. She needed to keep her head on straight and her emotions under control and wait for him to return.

Finally, she heard it—the sound of an engine, the rumble of a truck heading up the path to the lodge. They were back? They were back! She threw open the door and hurried out toward the lodge, sprinting to catch up with them by the time they reached the entrance. She prayed Cade would be with them.

Sure enough, the truck drew to a halt outside the lodge, and Cade was one of the first ones out. She rushed toward him, but as she got closer she began to slow down. There was a large bruise forming over his jaw. What had happened to him?

“Cade!” she called to him, and he turned toward her voice. When he saw her, a smile spread over his face, followed by a wince as he stretched the painful-looking bruise on his jaw.

“Are you okay?” River demanded, grabbing his hand and squeezing tight. She was just so glad he was there right now, she couldn’t think of anything else, even to ask what had taken them so long or how the mission had gone.

But before he could respond, others who had been with him came pouring out of the truck, splitting Cade and River apart once more.

Cade locked eyes with her, giving her a nod as though to let her know that everything was okay, but she could tell it wasn’t.

This was the most action she had seen at the lodge since she had arrived here, and she was worried that it had to do with her.

Concerned that she might have brought more danger to their door and left them all unaware by not being up-front when she arrived.

Some of the men hurried back in to the main lodge, talking over each other while a few still hung around outside.

There was an excited buzz in the air, which she took as a good sign, but she was still confused as to what had actually happened.

Why wasn’t anyone attending to Cade? They must have had something more important to focus on right now.

Finally, everyone vanished inside and she and Cade were alone again. She rushed over to Cade and stared up at him, her brows tight with worry.

“Are you okay?” she asked again.

He nodded and smiled down at her. “I’m okay.”

“What happened to your face?” she asked, reaching up to touch the bruise on his jaw without thinking. He winced and pulled back.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “Did someone hurt you?”

“I got attacked when we were at the warehouse,” he explained, and her stomach clenched with panic.

“Attacked?” she whispered.

“It’s okay, though,” he replied. “He didn’t manage to do much to me. We got him under control.”

He? Her mind began to race as she tried to figure out who it might be.

Surely it couldn’t be Ryker, right? They wouldn’t have been able to subdue him so easily.

He would need a whole army to take him down.

That man was evil. And he probably wouldn’t have let Cade walk away with nothing more than a bruise on his face.

“This is my fault,” she muttered under her breath, she was sure of it.

“What are you talking about?” he replied with a frown, cupping her face in his hand.

She shook her head and drew her gaze away from him. She didn’t want to tell him, but the truth was she had dragged them into this. If she hadn’t arrived here, he would never have gotten hurt.

And if she stayed, he was only going to get hurt again, and again, and other people would too.

Other people who had come here for safety only to be met with the danger that would follow her wherever she went.

Guilt stabbed at her hard. She needed to go.

She should have left the night before when she’d had the chance.

But after she had spoken to Hannah, she had made herself believe for a moment that she could find a way to make it all work.

But looking at Cade now, she knew she couldn’t.

Tears brimmed in her eyes and dripped down her cheek, and Cade wiped them away with his thumb.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her head into the palm of his hand, wishing she could stay here, in this moment.

She wished she could tell him everything and promise that it would all be okay, even though she knew it wasn’t the truth.

How could anything ever be okay again after what had happened?

She knew what the Shepards were capable of, and it was only going to get worse from here.

She didn’t want to put more of a target on the lodge or the people living here than she already had.

Before her mind could stray any further back down that path, she heard voices behind her. One voice she recognized. A voice that made her feel as though she was about to throw up on the spot. She spun around, trying to place it.

All at once, she figured it out. Cade turned back to the truck and helped Lawson and Xavier guide out someone she had never seen at the lodge before.

But he wasn’t a stranger to her. He lifted his gaze up from the ground as though he could sense her presence, and his face drained of color when he saw her. He froze on the spot, not taking his eyes off her. Staring at her like he had seen a ghost.

“River?” he breathed.

Hearing the man say her name made her knees tremble, the panic starting to set in. After all this time, after as far as she had managed to get from them. Right here in front of her was a remnant of her old life—a part of her past she had prayed she would be able to get away from for good.

“River, what are you doing here?” he demanded.