Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
“With the way your man is watching you, I have a feeling we don’t have all day to chat,” Fiona said with a grin.
Bree looked toward the doors and saw Smiley standing where she’d left him. His gaze was fixed on her. She gave him a small smile, letting him know everything was fine, then turned back toward the two women sitting with her.
Julie Hurt was a tiny woman. Probably not too much above five feet tall, and slender to boot.
Fiona Knox was tall, maybe just a couple inches shorter than Smiley.
Both women had flawless skin and little wrinkles next to their eyes that made Bree assume they laughed a lot.
They seemed happy and healthy, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
But Bree knew better. Knew the face people showed to the world could mask a lot of hurt in their past.
“I’ll start. I don’t know what you’ve been told about what happened to us,” Julie said.
Bree shook her head. “Just that you were both kidnapped and brought south of the border, with the intent of being sold into the sex slavery industry.”
“That sounds so clinical,” Fiona mused, taking a large swallow of wine.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“No, don’t be sorry,” Fiona interrupted quickly.
“I just meant, that’s right. That’s exactly what happened, but it’s kinda like saying a hurricane is a little storm.
Or a tornado is a little wind.” She took a deep breath.
“Right, so…I was taken when I was in a club by myself in Florida. I was there on vacation. I was chained to the floor of a hut for my ‘training period.’ When I refused to do what my captors wanted, they drugged me. I mean, I guess they were drugging me before that, but they turned up the pressure big time. Denying me food, letting me sit in my own filth, raping me, chaining me to the floor by my neck…you name it, they did it. But I still refused to do what they wanted. I wasn’t going to make it easy for them to sell me to some pervert for his sexual pleasure.
I was determined to fight them the entire way. ”
“And then I entered the picture,” Julie said, picking up the story.
“I was raped as well, but unlike Fiona, I immediately did everything they told me to do. Ultimately, it didn’t make them treat me any better.
I was only there for five days or so, while Fiona was there for months.
Thankfully, my father had connections and was able to hire a SEAL team to rescue me.
And they found Fiona, as well. We had to hike through the jungle, which, I’ll be honest, sucked, but we got out of there.
And I was a total bitch—to Fiona. To Cookie.
To all the guys. Thankfully, they eventually let me apologize to them, thank them, and I met Patrick. ”
The food Bree had eaten sat like a rock in her belly.
She hated hearing what these two women had been through.
It seemed so…unreal. Especially while sitting on the deck of this beautiful house, sipping wine, listening to the birds chirp in the trees and watching the first signs of the sun starting to set.
“I think what you need to know, to truly understand, is that we’re here.
We made it. We’re married, with normal, healthy sex lives,” Fiona said, sitting forward a little.
“I had a hard time when I got home. Had some flashbacks, even had an episode where I was convinced the people who’d held me captive were here in Riverton, trying to take me back.
Tex helped me get through that one, as did my amazing therapist. The point is…
we survived. We made it. Because we didn’t give up. ”
“Well, I kind of did,” Julie said with a shrug.
“I’ve come to terms with what I did and said, and thankfully, Fiona and the others forgave me for being a colossal bitch.
If I have any advice for you, it’s to not be like me.
Don’t ever give up. Don’t give in. Whether that means going after some lifelong dream you have, or if something bad happens and shit hits the fan.
Everyone you met tonight has been through hell and come through to the other side.
Strangers you meet on the street are the same way.
You have no idea looking at them who has been through an abusive marriage, miscarriage after miscarriage, horrible childhoods, accidents they should’ve died from. ”
“Being with a SEAL isn’t easy. Every time they go on a mission, they might not come back,” Fiona said softly.
“And I’m not saying that to freak you out or to be a downer, it’s simply the truth.
And sometimes they come home moody and quiet because of the things they’ve seen and done.
All you can really do is put one foot in front of the other.
To keep going. Because it’s a damn certainty that life isn’t going to be easy.
It’s going to throw some horrible things at you, which you already know.
“You didn’t give up back there in Vegas. You got away. You’re here now. With Smiley. Living. That’s what I’ve learned through my ordeal. To live. No matter what, to keep on living.”
Bree nodded. She had already been in awe of these women, and now she felt that times ten.
“Lord, we’ve scared the hell out of her,” Julie mumbled.
“No, I…I’m okay. I won’t deny I’m scared, but not of what you said. Of the guy after me. Knowing what he wants me for is terrifying.”
“It should be,” Julie said succinctly. “And I’m not trying to be a bitch…
although that seems to come natural to me.
I think you need to use that feeling to motivate you to be more aware of your surroundings.
To do what Smiley tells you to do, even if you think it’s over the top. And if the worst happens, you—”
“Julie, no,” Fiona said, interrupting her friend.
“She needs to hear it,” she protested.
“I think she got the point,” Fiona said with a shake of her head.
“I understand,” Bree interjected, not liking that the women were arguing because of her. “If he gets me, I need to be strong. To stay alert. To look for my chance to get away. And if that doesn’t happen, to not give up.”
“Exactly,” Julie said. “Because if the asshole after you succeeds, I have no doubt whatsoever that Smiley won’t stop looking until he finds you.”
“And knowing someone is out there doing what they can to get to you…it’s everything,” Fiona said. “I didn’t have that. And that made it even harder to stay strong. To keep fighting.”
“But you did,” Julie said, putting a hand over Fiona’s.
“You were so damn strong. It still humbles me to this day. All I’m saying is that if the worst happens, have no doubt that the cavalry is coming.
And you have the best of the best with Tex on your side.
The man is an angel. He’ll figure out where you are, and Smiley and his entire team—hell, probably our men too—will come for you. ”
While Bree had already known that Smiley wasn’t going to let her disappear into thin air, hearing Fiona and Julie also confirm it made a ball of tension she’d carried around for months ease just a bit.
“Thanks.”
“Right, now that the bad stuff is out of the way…can we talk about you and Smiley?” Fiona asked with a grin.
Bree blinked. “Me and Smiley?”
“Uh-huh. Girl, I thought Dude was intense with the way he watches Cheyenne, but he’s got nothing on your Smiley.”
Bree wanted to correct her new friend. Say there was nothing between her and the man who’d taken her under his wing.
Who’d decided it was his mission in life to keep her safe.
But she really couldn’t. Smiley was an intense man normally, but she’d caught him looking at her in a way that made her tingle from her head to her toes more than a few times.
“I don’t know why,” she admitted. “Or how to keep his attention. I’m afraid that once the threat to me is gone, any interest he has will disappear as well. I’ll go back to Vegas and he’ll continue doing his thing here.”
“I think this is the point where a lot of women would say all you have to do is get naked or suck his dick and you’ll keep his interest,” Julie said bluntly.
“But I have a feeling Smiley isn’t like most men.
That stuff…of course he’d love it. But I don’t think you have to worry about doing anything to keep his attention. You being you is doing that just fine.”
Bree shook her head. “But I’m not doing anything.”
“Exactly,” Fiona said with a nod. “I agree with Julie. There’s something about you that draws people in.
I feel as if we’ve been friends for ages rather than just meeting today.
You have a vibe that makes me want to rage at anyone who dares look at you cross-eyed.
And trust me, that’s not me. That’s more Caroline’s habit.
Or Jessyka’s. She’s good at that kind of thing. Comes with being a bar owner, I think.”
“Smiley’s…stoic,” Julie said. “It’s usually hard to figure out what he’s thinking.
But today? He’s an open book. His attention has been laser focused on you all afternoon.
Every time you so much as frowned, he shifted, as if he was going to storm across the room to find out what was wrong.
He got you snacks, refilled your drink, and was basically so in tune with you, I’d be jealous if I wasn’t already a happily married woman. ”
Bree blushed. Not sure if she should be embarrassed, defend Smiley, or be concerned he was so focused on her.
“None of that is bad,” Julie was quick to say.
“I’m just suggesting you go with the flow.
That man would no sooner hurt a hair on your head than he’d run screaming down the street in the middle of a mission.
You don’t have to do anything to keep his attention, you already have it.
He’s a goner, Bree. If you want him, for good, he’s yours.
Just tread carefully if he’s not what you want.
Because even though I don’t know him all that well, it would suck if you broke his heart. ”