Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
OIA, SANTORINI - GREECE
“When you said you had a safe house on a compound, well, I have to admit this is not what I was expecting,” Savanna said as she and Carter strolled the property.
“This used to be a hotel. Fifteen bedrooms, so there’s plenty of space.” As they walked, Carter tucked his hands into the pockets of the black slacks he’d changed into on the flight over. Savanna had spent half of their twelve-hour-plus flight asleep and the other half alternating between looking up info about Santorini and reading a book she’d downloaded onto Griffin’s secure phone. “I prefer not to stand out, so better to rent a place that blends in, you know?”
She considered asking Carter how he was able to afford this hotel-slash-“safe house” on a Greek island that, according to what she’d read, was considered one of the most beautiful and romantic destinations in the world, but she bit her tongue. He obviously didn’t have a cash flow problem, which only reminded her of how much trouble she was in financially. But that wasn’t her main priority right now, so she did her best to sweep that problem to the side for the time being.
Her hands went to the whitewashed stone wall of the veranda as she looked off to her left at the pristine white houses that looked like sugar cubes with blue accents and appeared to be carved right into the cliffs in the distance. “This place is like a dream,” she murmured, wishing she was there for a romantic vacation and not because Nick had put a target on her head.
It was after five p.m. in Greece, so they were eight hours ahead of Alabama. The sky was clear, and the temperature was a mild mid-seventies. Basically, perfect.
“It’s pretty nice,” Carter casually said, standing alongside her now.
She wasn’t sure where Griffin and the others had gone after exiting the SUV upon arrival, but Carter had offered her a personal tour of the property. She was almost surprised Griffin left her side, but then, he’d barely said a word to her since she’d poured her heart out to him on the jet. Of course, yesterday, on their way to the hangar, he’d told her that it would be best if someone else kept a close eye on her.
But when Jack offered to do it, Griffin shot down that idea. The man was confusing.
She couldn’t help but wonder what happened in Griffin’s past that had him so sure she’d break his heart.
“Why Greece?” She looked toward the endless blue water of the glistening Aegean Sea, then over to Carter.
He smiled and opened his palms. “I like being by the water. My place on the French Riviera was compromised, so I relocated.”
“A helo pad with what I’m fairly certain has a Black Hawk parked on it. Several sports cars in the garage. Ten armed guards I counted on our tour of the property. Do you also have some type of aerial defense system overhead to intercept a rocket?” she asked with a smile, and Carter only shrugged. “And if men try to drop in from a helicopter like yesterday at Griffin’s cabin, what will happen to them?”
Carter’s dark eyes fixed on her as he lightly tipped his head, studying her. What was on his mind? What was this mysterious man thinking about?
The sea breeze suddenly whipped her hair across her face, and she shifted it behind her ears before turning away from him and toward the gasp-worthy views. Paradise. I’m in paradise.
“Will your men be able to get those two Greeks to talk?” she asked when he remained quiet.
“If I couldn’t get them to open up, then most likely not. And Gray won’t let me torture them,” he said on a sigh as if it was a terrible inconvenience not to be able to inflict pain on the men.
“I guess Gray has a moral compass. Did you lose yours?” She hadn’t meant to speak her thoughts aloud, especially to a man who was going through all of this trouble to save her, but she wasn’t always great at keeping her mouth shut.
“I lost mine the day my wife was brutally butchered,” he said in a solemn tone, and chills chased down her spine at his words.
“I’m so sorry,” was all she could manage. “I didn’t realize you were a widower. I’m sorry we have that in common.”
Carter braced his hands on the stone wall, which looked to be made from the volcanic rock found on the island. His jaw was tight as he eyed the water, and she sensed he was reliving the horror of his past the same as she’d done countless times. The memory of her husband’s execution streamed online for the world to see.
And as always, when that image came to mind, her stomach flipped, and she set a hand on her abdomen.
“We’re ready to go,” someone called out behind them, but she took a moment to collect herself before tracking the voice to Jack.
Hm. Another J. Heartbreaker too? Maybe she needed to forget that TikTok video once and for all.
Griffin was standing alongside Jack. Oliver as well. But Gray wasn’t in sight.
“Where are we going?” She set her eyes on the man who’d made her feel so much in such a short period of time, but his gaze was concealed by aviator shades.
Griffin had also changed on the flight over. Jeans and a white polo. He’d washed his hair, and it was a little spiky and pushed to the side. Handsome as hell.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Jack said while striding closer, but Griffin remained standing a good ten feet away.
“You guys worked during most of the flight. But if you found out something, why haven’t you told me?” Were they keeping her in the dark? Worried she couldn’t handle it? I own a cafe?. I bake cookies and brew espressos. I’m not an operator, she reminded herself. But still, after everything they’d been through together, she wanted to be kept in the loop, especially since it involved Marcus’s brother.
“We’re narrowing down possibilities as to what this Elysium might be. Although, we’ve eliminated that it references a person,” Oliver spoke up. Of the three men outside on the veranda with her, he appeared less guarded than the others. Not quite laid-back, just more easygoing. “But we did find the location that matched the symbol from the picture. You were right, the place is like a bank but not for money. Antiques, rare belongings, and personal valuables that people want to keep safe are kept within one part of their state-of-the-art vault. The other part of the vault is for individual safe-deposit boxes. We made an appointment to have a look since they have no website or public records online in order to maintain discretion.”
“Oh, okay.” Savanna folded her arms when another bluster of air hit her. She’d changed into a pair of jeans and a pink button- down blouse after using the shower on the plane. But the sleeves were rolled to her elbows, goose bumps evident on her forearms.
“Gray is staying behind to work on some more leads. We’re doing our best to figure out who Nick worked for by trying to track some of these Greeks’ past movements, but my guess is their boss is damn good at covering his tracks for us to still not find anything,” Carter added, then looked to Griffin. “I assume you’re staying with Savanna? My men are here, but?—”
“I’m staying,” Griffin announced in a deep voice that brooked no argument. Savanna was struck with relief. She didn’t want to be without that man. She felt safe with him, and even if he believed he’d failed her at the cabin yesterday, she disagreed.
“Thought so.” Carter tipped his head as if to signal to Jack and Oliver to head out. “We shouldn’t be more than a few hours.”
Once they were alone, Griffin said, “I can show you to your room. It has a patio with the same view if you feel like sitting outside and reading to pass the time?”
“You know how to make a girl smile,” she lightly teased. “Is it safe to sit outside?”
“I wouldn’t let you do it if I thought there was a sniper on that sailboat waiting for the perfect shot,” he said while pointing toward the water.
She glanced at the sailboat bobbing in the water off in the distance as he approached her. “Thanks for putting that thought in my head. Maybe I’ll just read on the bed.”
“This is your first time abroad. Sit in the sun.” His voice was softer now. And when he lifted a hand and gently swept back her hair, which had blown across her face again, she went still.
She slowly pivoted her attention to his face, wishing she could see his eyes to get a read on him. Why was she so desperate to kiss him again? To have his tongue tangle with hers in a seductive slow dance? He was one hell of a kisser.
For some crazy reason, when she’d thought Griffin had slept with Jack’s ex, her stomach had done a sickening somersault. She hadn’t experienced jealousy since she was in her early twenties when the “frog hogs”—women whose goal was to get their hooks into a SEAL—used to flirt shamelessly with Marcus when they went out to the bars in Virginia Beach. Marcus never gave them the time of day, and her gut told her Griffin would be the same.
But I’ll never find out. “Okay, take me to my room.” And then fuck me senseless up against the wall. On the bed. Balcony. In the shower. Screw my brains out until I can’t walk.
She scolded herself as they walked along in silence and did her best to keep her mouth shut and not voice those thoughts.
“Not how I imagined my first trip out of the States, but I can’t complain about the location.” Small talk, Savanna. Just make small talk, she told herself as they entered the whitewashed stone building that sat on the cliffside.
But her thoughts swung back around to dirty the moment she chanced a look at the chiseled jaw of the man walking alongside her wearing his Top Gun aviators, not a hint he’d been badly beaten yesterday. God, he was so sexy.
“You’re blushing.”
Savanna abruptly stopped and palmed her cheeks to discover they were on fire. She was too young to be having hot flashes, right? Her eyes went from the aviators now hooked to the neck of his shirt on up to his dark, hooded eyes.
She didn’t have to tell him that within seconds she’d skipped straight to a fantasy playing out in her mind. He knew. She was an open book, unlike him.
His lips remained in a tight line as he pointed to the door a few paces away. “Your room.” Two distinct lines cut across his forehead as he studied her while she slowly lowered her hands from her face that had to be redder than red, a contrast to her normally olive skin.
Griffin’s eyes held hers as he drew in a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and swallowed hard. Then, reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a key card as if they really were in a hotel and opened the door. From the looks of it, he was having his own dirty thoughts, but he was doing a better job of keeping them in check.
“Carter arranged for someone to shop for you. The dresser should be full. Knowing Carter, he instructed the personal shopper to include everything you could possibly need, including underwear bound to be more exciting than what I packed for you.”
Oh my. Exciting underwear? And now her cheeks were on fire again. “He really pulls out all of the stops.” She forced a smile and brushed past him to check out her room.
It was simple but elegant. A king-size bed with an antique white headboard and a quilted bedspread the color of the Aegean Sea reminded her of the small whitewashed houses and their blue dome-shaped roofs that dotted the cliffs. Other than the lamp on a nightstand by the bed and the matching white antique dresser, there was no other furniture. “It’s amazing. You’ll be next door, I assume? Am I okay alone?” Maybe you should sleep with me. In my bed.
“That door connects to my room,” he said, pointing to what she’d assumed was a closet by the bed. “I’d prefer you to keep it unlocked so I can get in that way if needed, but yes, you’ll be safe.”
Connecting door, huh? Annnd she was two seconds away from whipping up a new fantasy.
Griffin crossed the room and drew the floor-to-ceiling curtains open to reveal the balcony and the gorgeous view he’d promised. After a long pause during which Savanna figured he was taking in the view, he slowly turned toward her, one hand gripping the back of his neck. His dark eyes pinned her with that intense, broody look she’d quickly grown familiar with. The man’s mood seemed to change as often as the wind. Joking and sweet one minute, growly the next. There was a reason for this change in mood, and it wasn’t good, was it?
“What else did you learn on the plane?” she challenged. “Look, I know I bake cookies and brew coffee for a living, but since this is my life on the line, I’d like to be kept in the know.” Plus, Marcus had educated her over the years. She knew a thing or two about special operations.
When he remained quiet, she decided she could wait a few more minutes to find out what that dark look in his eyes was all about, so she went over to check out the new clothes in the dresser.
Griffin had been right about Carter being a full-service host. The top drawer was filled with red, black, and nude lace lingerie. She lifted one set from the drawer, forgetting she had an audience as she admired the matching red bra and panties, but startled when Griffin placed his hand on her forearm as though prompting her to put it away.
Savanna peered at him over the curve of her shoulder to find his head cocked, eyes on the bra as if picturing her in it.
“Nothing Carter didn’t already say outside. Nick’s boss most likely had him steal something from the Archer Group that was inside a vault, and that’s why Joe’s team is after him. And we’re coming up empty on tracking Nick’s past whereabouts aside from your place. And nothing on the Greeks, either, that is of any use.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little weird Nick would risk his life by double-crossing his boss?” She’d voiced the thought that’d been brewing in the back of her mind all day.
“Money makes people do crazy things. I assume he decided to sell whatever his boss wanted him to steal and keep the money himself.”
Her shoulders sank. “I don’t know. I guess he didn’t realize the shit storm he’d stir up when he betrayed his boss, but something tells me there’s more to all this.”
“I know you want to believe Nick is redeemable, but I don’t want to see you get your heart broken.”
“That seems to be the theme for you,” she whispered, then finally turned back toward the dresser, which had him releasing his hold of her.
She put away the lingerie and closed the drawer. “Any other news?”
When she turned toward him, nearly colliding with his large, muscular frame, the slant inward of his brows was a yes.
But what was it he didn’t want to share?
She leaned back against the dresser, and in an attempt to stare the answer out of him, folded her arms and steadied her gaze as she waited for her Jedi mind trick to draw out the information.
Griffin swiped a palm over his jaw and the shadow of what would quickly become a beard if he didn’t shave soon.
His expression hardened the same way Marcus’s used to right before he shared the news he’d lost someone in combat. And if the dresser hadn’t been propping her up, she’d have stumbled backward at the grave look in Griffin’s eyes.
“What is it?” she cried, tears welling in her eyes. She knew what Griffin was about to tell her was going to hurt. And she was tired of what she called “the hurt.” The pain that sliced through her like a machete whenever the darkness of what happened to Marcus swarmed her thoughts.
“I asked Gray to look into something for me,” he began in a steady voice.
“Joe,” she said, awareness settling in. “You took a bullet for him when your team was sent in to assist Joe’s squadron in Iraq. That means you operated with . . .” Marcus. Her hands slid down to her abdomen, where the pain always struck first.
“I couldn’t remember him, which didn’t make sense. So, I wanted to read the official report, find out what happened after I was shot that day. See how Marcus fits into, um, the story.” He took a step closer and ran the pad of his thumb over her cheek as if once again wiping away flour. When her breath hitched at his touch, his hard expression softened ever so slightly. “After I lost consciousness, Marcus took out the sniper that shot me and then helped carry my ass over a mile to an exfil site and got me on a helo to safety.”
“You’re saying Marcus saved you after you saved Joe?” she whispered in disbelief at the news there was a connection between her husband and the man standing before her. And was that supposed to mean something? Or was it just a twist of fate? Nature of the job? Two special operators who’d crossed paths once upon a time ago.
“Marcus didn’t want any credit. Based on his words in the report, he blamed himself for the fact someone from another unit took a bullet for one of his own teammates. He asked for his name not to be shared with me. He didn’t believe he deserved to be thanked.”
Sounds like Marcus. “I-I need to sit down.”
Griffin lowered his arm and turned to the side as if to offer her passage to flee.
Her legs didn’t seem to want to work, though.
She couldn’t move.
Recognizing that she was clearly on the verge of an emotional breakdown, Griffin stepped forward, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her against his body.
He hugged her tightly, one warm palm stroking up and down her back as the other cradled her head beneath his chin, giving her exactly what she needed at that moment. Comfort.
Savanna remained in his embrace as tears streamed down her cheeks and over her lips to drip off her chin. She lost herself in her sorrow but finally, with a shuddery breath, pulled back and looked up at him.
He framed his hands on her hips for a moment before sliding them up and over her arms, then to her face, and held her cheeks between his palms.
“I survived that day because of your husband. And I’ll do everything in my power to keep his wife safe. I’d do it anyway, but knowing this . . .” His dark brown eyes vanished from view when he sealed his lids tight.
Wife. Griffin would never lose hold of that word. He’d never be able to see her as more than Marcus’s wife, and she didn’t blame him. She was certain this officially cemented the wall between them in Griffin’s eyes.
And it broke her heart.
Because now she was convinced Marcus placed this man in her path for a reason. He sent Griffin to her.
“I’m going to go check on Gray,” he said a moment later with eyes open. “And then work out to let off some steam,” he added after releasing her face and stepping back.
“Aren’t you in pain?” was all she managed to say, her heart and mind conflicted. The already tattered pieces of her heart felt as if they were about to be carried out to sea and lost forever if she let the only man who made her feel anything since Marcus slip away.
“I’m tough. Don’t worry.” A small smile formed on his lips. “But I might swim a few laps in the indoor pool I spotted earlier as my workout.” He reached into his pocket and handed her his phone. “Here,” he offered. “In case you feel like reading.”
She accepted his phone and smiled. “Thanks for downloading the Kindle app for me on the plane. But maybe I’ll join you for a swim in a bit? Not sure if I want to be alone here,” she admitted.
“I would never leave you if I didn’t believe you were safe here.” He gently gripped her arms. “Trust me when I say that Carter’s safe houses are really damn safe.”
“No, I mean,” she said around a shaky exhale, “I don’t want to be alone.”
He unhooked his sunglasses from his shirt before taking another step back as if he didn’t trust himself to be so close to her. He was prepared to shield his eyes from her even indoors, too, wasn’t he?
She doubted Delta operators were afraid of much, but this one seemed to be terrified of her.