Chapter 46
JASON
I’d been pacing erratically across the studio floor ever since Plavko had left me here, every muscle in my body screaming to go.
To do something. He’d asked me to stay put so he could try to save his cover, and I was doing my best to hold to that, but my resolve was slipping with every fucking second.
I had my back turned when Laurel entered. I sensed it was her, always acutely aware when she was near. I turned to see her standing with a hand on each side of the doorframe, a gun in one of them, and she was out of breath as if she’d been running.
She was still in that infuriating white dress.
I didn’t say a thing, didn’t move an inch. Was this the girl I fell in love with, hesitating in the doorway? Her eyes were clear and focused on me, but her face was completely unreadable.
Then her bottom lip quivered. “Jason.”
She knew me.
The 9mm fell from her grip and clattered to the hardwood. Her right hand went to her left and yanked the two rings off her finger as she stormed toward me. They were flung to the ground where they bounced and rolled away.
As she reached for me, I drew her into my arms and crushed my lips to hers, overwhelmed.
She was still mine. After more than a month of brainwashing and God only knew what else.
I’d sort all that out later, but the only thing that mattered was the woman with her arms thrown around my neck, her kiss searing across my lips.
It felt so incredible to have her back. As the emotions poured through me, my heart tripped and stumbled, unable to keep its rhythm. I shook with relief, and maybe she did too, but it was impossible to know.
Our mouths moved together, eager for connection and to make up for lost time.
When we finally came up for air, I set my forehead against hers and closed my eyes. I was almost too afraid of what her answer would be. “Are you okay?”
“I am now. There’s still a lot I don’t remember, but things have been coming back faster since you got here.”
More relief surged through my system. I cupped her face in my hands so I could gaze into her haunting eyes that I’d missed so much. She peered back like she wanted to relearn each detail of my face.
I wanted to go back to kissing her, but there was an urgent matter we needed to address. “Is he still alive?”
Her shoulders lifted on a deep breath. “He was when I left him with Plavko. He’s an American?”
“He didn’t say it, but I assume he’s CIA.”
“How . . .?” She couldn’t make the pieces fit.
“They’d been looking for a way in. Three weeks ago, Frey needed a bodyguard, so Plavko was invented. At least, that’s the story I got.”
“From who?”
“The cameraman.”
The one in the square who Plavko had chased after. Only, I explained, he hadn’t smashed the camera, he’d gotten a message through to me. Give him a week to finish his undercover work before I came riding in to the rescue. He’d promised to keep her safe until then.
I only made it four days.
How could he have known I wasn’t any good at following orders?
My only regret was that I had waited at all. For the first time in what felt like forever, I was back on solid ground. It felt like the earth hadn’t collapsed with Shawn’s phone call she’d vanished from detainment.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“In his room.”
“Show me.” I took her hand and started for the door.
She guided me through the house but moved slowly, and realization dawned in me. “Fuck, I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “You don’t have to see him ever again.”
“It’s not that.” She marched toward the end of the hall. “Plavko said you need to leave him alone until he’s finished. That you owe him.”
A male scream of pain rang out from behind a door.
Laurel stared at the floor, like she both wanted and didn’t want to hear it, and the scream died as quickly as it had begun. Whatever torture Plavko was inflicting on Frey had ceased.
We stood in the hall, our hands linked together and our bodies tense as we listened for more screams, but none came. It meant Frey was either dead, unconscious, or talking.
I wasn’t sure which one I wanted more.
She spoke in a hush. “How did you find me?”
“Caroline,” I said. “She was able to trace the leak.”
Whatever the Markovic family had on Beth Garrity from the OEO, it was bad enough for her to sell her soul and give Frey everything he wanted. She’d rot in prison for the rest of her life—which would likely be short.
The Serbians didn’t tolerate loose ends.
There was no recognition in Laurel’s eyes. “Who’s Caroline?”
My hands encircled her waist, even smaller than I remembered. “She’s a friend.”
It tore me up seeing her like this. Her face was too thin from the drugs Frey had been using on her. And whether it was the car accident or his drugs and manipulation that had caused her memory loss, it didn’t matter. It was all his doing, and I was going to make him pay for it.
A different thought seemed to cross through Laurel’s blue eyes then, changing her face. “Frey thought you were dead. He was sure of it.”
“You arrived in Munich on Shawn’s plane without me,” I said. “It seemed better if everyone thought I was dead.” Especially the mole within the Marshals Service.
“Are you all right?” Her soft voice was coated with concern.
“I’m much better now.” I brushed her hair off her shoulder so I could kiss the point where her neck began, working my way up. She shuddered under my lips, but I knew it was a good shudder.
“I don’t remember this,” she said, her fingertips gliding down the side of my beard.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t about to waste time doing something as unnecessary as shaving.” Because I’d used every moment I had to search for her. “What do you remember about us?”
She gave me a shy smile. “Waiting to go on stage, when you said you loved me.”
I took a deep breath. I was certain I wasn’t going to be able to let her go again.
“I remember coming in from the rain with you to a big, cold house.” Her voice went quiet. “And the airport when we said goodbye. That’s all.”
My jaw set, my mind returned to dark thoughts about the man on the other side of the door.
“Don’t think about that,” she said, her voice desperate. “I need you to remind me.”