Page 9

CHAPTER 9

March 3 rd

3:24 P.M.

They were being shot at.

For some reason, even after everything she had been through these last couple of weeks, that fact shocked Ava.

It shouldn’t.

She was well aware of that.

But it did.

Her entire life had become surreal. Like someone had snatched her up and transplanted her into the middle of a movie. Kidnapped by organ traffickers, escaping in a life raft, saved by a SEAL, running through the Mexican jungle hunted by the trafficking ring, being shot at. What about that didn't scream action movie?

Add in the sexy but vulnerable beneath his tough exterior warrior and this could so easily become a romance too.

Bad, Ava.

Not the time.

Still thinking about how nice it would be to kiss Nathaniel, and by nice she actually meant toe-curling and panty melting, was totally preferable to thinking about how easy it would be for one of those bullets to go plowing through her body. Or Nathaniel’s. Or one of the team of SEALs that had come to rescue them.

Putting their lives on the line as these men did, didn't mean they wanted to get shot. She’d gotten to know the SEAL team a little over the last several hours, and she knew they were all married, some of them had kids, too. They had lives, people who loved them, and they wanted to make it home to them in one piece.

Just like she wanted to make it home to her Cyber Team family.

But she didn't want that at the expense of someone else’s life.

A bullet whizzed past her close enough that she could feel its heat as it brushed across her arm, and she squeaked and went down. Her knees hit the hard ground with a thud that reverberated through her body.

As badly as she wanted to keep running, her legs were already shaking badly enough that she wasn't sure she could.

Like he had been ever since he found her in the life raft, Nathaniel was there, hauling her to her feet, throwing her over his shoulder, and taking off at top speed with her bouncing along for the ride.

Pain spiraled through her body with each bounce, but it was fear that was dominating right now.

Gripping onto Nathaniel’s shirt in an attempt to steady herself, when Ava lifted her head she saw a figure moving in the trees behind them.

Right where the shots were coming from.

“Nathaniel!” she screamed, needing to alert him to the fact that danger lurked behind them but not able to get any more words out than his name.

Apparently, that was enough.

Without missing a single stride, without stumbling, or losing his balance, Nathaniel spun, fired off a shot, then turned back around the way he’d been going and kept running like nothing had happened.

Just like that, he’d killed someone.

Eliminated a threat.

For her.

The roar of the helicopter grew louder, and all Ava wanted was for all eight of them to be on board, away from the shooting, away from the danger, heading home where they would all be safe.

But safety seemed so far away.

How were they going to get up onto the helo without someone getting hit?

“Almost there, Aves,” Nathaniel’s voice cut through not only the roar of the approaching helicopter but the thrumming of fear inside her head.

They might be almost there, but they weren't close enough for her liking.

Almost meant someone could still die.

Since Nathaniel had taken out the man following them, there were no more bullets, and slowly Ava allowed herself to relax. They were almost to the helo, Nathaniel had comms on him, and as soon as they were in the other guys would come, and then they’d all be heading home.

It was doable.

Totally doable.

And she let herself believe that this ordeal was nearly over. Even after she escaped and got onto that life raft, and even after Nathaniel found her, she still hadn't quite believed that she was truly saved, that she’d be going home.

But now it was so close she could taste it.

They reached a small clearing, and she saw the helicopter hovering above it, a rope slowly lowering to them. Nathaniel set her on her feet, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly enough that Ava winced.

Bending his knees so they were eye to eye he made sure he had her full attention before speaking. “We’ll go up together. There’s a chance—a good chance—that they’ll try shooting at us as soon as we get moving. I'm not going to lie to you, Aves, we’ll be sitting ducks up there, but I will shoot at anything that shoots at us.”

What she translated in her mind was that he was going to use his body as a human shield to try to protect her from bullets.

She wanted to protest, tell him that was silly, that she didn't want him hurt for her, but there was no time. The rope reached them, and Nathaniel grabbed at it, making quick work of securing the harness around her, while she did little to contribute. Which was probably better and made it easier for him since she had no idea how the complicated harness was supposed to work.

Ava didn't know what it was.

Instinct maybe.

Her gut.

But something inside her suddenly insisted that she lift her head and look away from what Nathaniel was doing and over his shoulder instead.

If she hadn't, they’d both be dead. Nathaniel right now, and her when these people were finished with her, and she had nothing left for them to sell.

“No!” she screamed as she shoved with all her might at Nathaniel.

Given their size difference and the fact that she was still weak and sick, she didn't push him over, didn't even move him any more than making his body sway to the side, and she was pretty sure that was only because she’d caught him by surprise.

Still, he moved, and that meant the bullet that was supposed to pierce the back of his chest, hitting his heart and killing him, passed him by and instead burned along the side of her neck.

The sound Nathaniel made was more animal than human, and she’d never seen anything like the protective rage that flared on his face in her entire life.

In one fluid motion, he spun and fired a bullet into the man rushing toward him.

Ava watched with a hazy sort of distance as the man’s body dropped.

Dead.

Good.

She wanted him dead.

Wanted them all dead.

Every single person from that trafficking ring.

The world would be a better place without them in it.

Not without Nathaniel though.

The world needed men like him.

Needed him.

She was glad he hadn't died.

Now he looked worried, though, his face close to hers, his mouth moving only she couldn’t quite hear the words over the buzzing in her head.

Whatever it was looked important, and she did her best to focus.

Not that it seemed to help.

Things were growing more distant.

The world turning a little fuzzy at the edges.

Were they flying?

It felt like they were.

Soaring above the trees.

Who knew flying hurt.

Her stomach pulsed with a red-hot pain that she was well and truly sick of, but there was a pain in her neck that seemed new. The organ traffickers hadn't taken anything from her neck. There was nothing there to take.

After what seemed like forever, she stopped floating. Hands grabbed at her, making her wince, but she no longer had the energy to cry out.

Actually, she didn't seem to have much energy for anything at all.

Someone laid her out flat on her back, and for a moment it felt like she was back on that boat, lying on a bed, held down against her will.

With a cry, she attempted to shove away the people restraining her. She didn't want to go back, didn't want to be trapped again.

For a second they backed off, and she felt free.

But then someone was there again.

A face leaning over her, a hand tracing lightly along her jaw before it pressed to her neck, making the pain there worse.

“Shh, sweetheart,” a voice crooned.

A familiar voice.

Nathaniel’s voice.

If he was there then everything was going to be okay.

“Bullet hit your neck but missed your carotid artery, you're going to be fine, you're safe, going home. It’s okay to sleep now, Aves, to rest. When you wake up, you’ll be in the hospital and this will all be over,” Nathaniel murmured.

Over?

No, it would never be over.

Not really.

Because the memories of the last few weeks, the terror she’d felt, the helplessness, would live inside her forever.

The very last thing she wanted was to wake up in a hospital and be reminded of her time being held captive by the traffickers. Over the last two weeks all she’d wanted was to go home, now that she was going there, it didn't feel any safer than where she’d just been.

* * *

March 4 th

10:13 A.M.

It was probably not appropriate for him to be there.

Okay, there was no probably about it.

Nathaniel knew it was inappropriate for him to just turn up at the hospital to see Ava. His job was over. She was home now. Safe. She had her family around her, the people who loved and cared about her, the people she needed by her side to begin her journey to recovery.

Those were things he couldn’t help her with.

For all he knew, she wouldn't even want to see him again.

There was every chance that he was just a reminder of the worst thing to ever happen to her. That he was too irrevocably tied up in her ordeal that she wouldn't want anything to do with him.

Honestly, Nathaniel knew that was the better option even as he parked his rental truck outside the hospital. Because he was certain he didn't possess the strength to stay away from Ava unless she told him outright that he had to.

Which was a very scary thought for a man like him who had decided in his teens that he was not going to risk any romantic entanglements. The potential to develop real feelings for another person was too high so he kept things as detached as possible.

It had always worked until he found an unconscious woman at the bottom of a life raft.

Their relationship had started out as far away from romantic as it was possible to get, yet it would be a lie to claim that she hadn't wriggled her way under his skin, and he liked it.

Actually liked it.

His being there was a big mistake. It would only reinforce the obsession that was growing inside him. Obsession was a dangerous thing. He’d seen the damage it could cause. Seen an obsession with alcohol destroy his father. Seen an obsession with a man destroy his mother. Seen an obsession with drugs destroy some of his siblings.

Yet nothing could stop him from walking inside this hospital.

How could he not go there to see the woman who had quite literally saved his life? No one had ever put themselves between him and danger before. However, Ava hadn't hesitated to push him out of the way when she saw an approaching threat, and she’d taken a bullet for her trouble.

A bullet that could have killed her.

It was a miracle it had only scraped along the side of her neck, dangerously close to her carotid artery but thankfully missing it completely.

Seeing blood dribbling down her neck, knowing she was already injured and weak, had almost stopped his heart. Never in his life had he felt terror like that. The journey from the ground up into the helo had felt like an eternity. They’d then changed to a plane to fly from California to New York, and when they’d landed in the private airfield, and he had to leave Ava, it had felt like he was literally sending a piece of himself away.

He had to get these feelings under control.

Even if he wanted to break his vow to himself and ask Ava out, there was no way she was going to say yes.

Since he had Ava’s room number, he headed for the elevator to take him to her floor. It had only been a matter of hours since they’d parted ways, and he’d spent most of that time being yelled at by his commander.

They both knew he was walking a fine line. There was no proof he had messed with his comms unit in any way, which he hadn't, and he hadn't been given a direct order to leave behind the person he’d found in the life raft. So technically, he hadn't done anything wrong, and they all knew it, but still, his commander had placed him on temporary leave pending an investigation into the malfunctioning communication device.

Nathaniel should have been more upset about that, he loved his job, it was his life, his team was his family, but all he felt was relief that his job wasn't going to stop him from going to Ava. There were no orders to follow, nowhere to be, so he was free to do whatever he wanted.

And for a reason he couldn’t quite fathom this was what he wanted to do.

Still anxiety hit as he reached Ava’s floor, and his steps slowed.

He wanted to see her, but the real question was, did she want to see him?

As soon as his debriefing with his commander was over, the first thing he’d done was ask for an update on Ava. He knew it had been one of her kidneys that had been removed by the organ traffickers, which was what both of them had assumed. Living with only one kidney shouldn’t impact her life in any meaningful way so at least she had that going for her. The wound to her neck had required four stitches to close, and there would be a scar, one that would be more visible than the one left behind on her abdomen.

But she was doing as well as could be expected. The wound on her stomach had been irrigated and restitched, she was getting antibiotics, fluids, pain management, and lots of rest.

She was fine and he had no doubt her family was by her side.

So why was he there?

Why did it feel so imperative that he go to see her?

And why did it matter so damn much whether she wanted to see him?

He was the one who had made things awkward after she’d been rambling about unwrapping herself. He could have just whispered in her ear that he thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life but that he was scared to ask her out, to let her in. But that would have meant allowing himself to be vulnerable in front of another person for the first time since he was a kid stuck in an abusive home, and Nathaniel wasn't sure he was ready for that.

Wasn't sure he would ever be ready.

If he was never going to be able to let himself be vulnerable with a partner, what would be the point in even having one?

That was the whole point of a relationship, you worked together as a team, using your strengths to help your partner’s weaknesses, uplifting one another, and supporting one another.

The thing was, though, he’d already used the only strengths he had to offer anyone. He’d managed to keep her alive in Mexico, get her away from the men hunting her, and with the help of Rocco’s team, get her back home safely.

What else did he have to offer?

It wasn’t like she was going to find herself kidnapped again and be in need of someone to come rushing to her rescue.

Knowing that the best thing for them both would be for her to throw him out of her room, thank him for helping save her life but tell him she never wanted to see him again, didn't mean that he wasn't hoping for the exact opposite.

For once in his life, it would be nice for someone to want him around, not because of what he could or could not offer, but just because they enjoyed his company. Because they saw something of value in him.

Did she see something of value in him?

Was that why she saved his life?

She hadn't had to push him out of the way, she could have just yelled out that there was a threat like she had when someone had chased them as they ran for the helo. But she’d taken it further than that, she’d prioritized his life over her own and acted to remove him from danger.

Maybe that was purely instinct. Perhaps she hadn't really known what she was doing or thought about the consequences, just acted.

Or maybe it was something more. Something deeper.

As he stood outside the closed door to her hospital room, Nathaniel was struck by the realization that he was equally as nervous about the possibility of her being happy to see him as he was that she would be unhappy to see him.

Both would hit hard only for different reasons.

If she threw him out with a thank you but leave, he would have to confront the possibility that maybe he wasn't as happy with the life choices he’d made as he thought he was. That maybe he did want more out of life than his team, his job, and his peace and solitude.

And if she asked him to stay, he would have to confront every single one of his fears and find a way to allow himself to be vulnerable with her, to let her in, to learn to trust her, to accept that not everyone was out for themselves and themselves alone.

Lifting his hand to knock on the door, Nathaniel wasn't sure which outcome to hope for, he just prayed he was strong enough to face whatever came next.