Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Is it all finally over?” Eva asked, her fingers fisting the blanket to her chest.
“Almost,” Jessica answered for Luke because he couldn’t get his mouth to move.
He couldn’t believe everything that had happened today—everything that could have happened to Eva.
Her life had been in jeopardy because of him. It solidified why he couldn’t ever be with someone. It was too damn dangerous.
But, with Will’s betrayal, did he even have a job anymore?
“We, uh,”—he coughed into his closed hand—“still need to wrap up a few loose ends with the bad guys who were after the safe in the first place.”
“Oh.” Her chest lifted and fell with a sobering breath. “What does that mean for me?”
“We’ll take you back to the States.” Jessica sat next to her on the bed. She wrapped a hand over her shoulder as if she were trying to be sisterly, but on Jessica it looked awkward and forced.
Eva’s long lashes lifted as she viewed Jessica.
Jessica cleared her throat. “We should keep an eye on her until it’s clear. If Ender mentioned anything to al Jawali about her in the truck before the accident . . .”
Luke’s arms tightened across his chest as he leaned against the wall opposite them, digesting the situation.
“I doubt he said anything, but it’s not a chance I’m willing to take.
” He wouldn’t be able to watch her again though.
The commander in chief was expecting his arrival and a briefing tomorrow at Camp David.
“My work starts in ten days. Will I be back in time?” she softly asked.
Luke looked to Jessica for a brief moment. “I hope so. We won’t be sent in to take out al Jawali, but—”
“Why not?” Eva’s brows raised, a flicker of relief in her hazel irises.
“That kind of stuff will be handled by DEVGRU, or a combination of spec ops guys. We do the stuff that’s more behind the scenes,” he explained.
“And never get credit for it.” She wet her lips, a slight tremble there. “But you don’t do this for credit,” she noted before he had to say it.
“Ender’s been handed over to the Feds. I doubt he’ll ever wake, but he’s not our responsibility anymore.” Jessica stood.
“What will happen to Malik and his family?” Eva asked, allowing the blanket to fall to her lap. Traces of goose bumps scattered across her forearms.
“He has diplomatic immunity, which if POTUS wanted to he could probably get around, but I made the case this morning for his return to Turkey. I think it’s best for him and his family to stay low-key for a while,” Jessica answered.
It was Luke’s first time hearing the news, but he was in agreement.
He should’ve listened to his gut from the beginning about the case, but then again, he’d never have suspected his superior to be involved in twisting all of the intel up to mask the true mark: himself.
“I’m going to go wrap things up with the guys in the other suite. We head to the airport in an hour, if you want to freshen up first,” Jessica said.
Luke waited for them to be alone, and then he sat on the bed and found her hand. “If you hadn’t shown up at the cabin, none of this would’ve happened.”
Her lips twitched at the edges. “I know.”
“No, I mean we would’ve handed over Malik and Ender as traitors, and Will would’ve gotten away with everything.” He tensed at the thought.
How many ops had he been sent on to do Will’s personal bidding? He was only supposed to be the point of contact, so hopefully, this had been the first time. He couldn’t think any other way, or guilt would rip him apart.
“So, my almost dying a few times wound up being a good thing.” She smiled as he shifted to better face her and guided his hand up, brushing the pad of his thumb beneath her mascara-streaked eye.
“No,” he finally said. “But what happened to you proves how dangerous knowing me is.” His chest constricted as he stood.
“You could’ve died because of me,” she said, catching him by surprise as he braced the back of his neck with both hands. “You might have sacrificed your mission and turned over the safe to save me.” She shoved the blanket to the side and stood.
He held his breath as he waited for her words, wondering if she’d be the one to sever the—well, whatever it was—between them. Maybe she’d save him from having to do it himself?
“I get why you don’t want your men to be married and have kids. I know SEALs have families, but what you do is different, I guess.” Her gaze dropped to the floor, and her hands knotted at her sides. “And I assume you lost someone from your team, and he was married, right? So, there’s that, too.”
Memories of his best friend with a hood over his head two years ago came to mind. “So, you agree with me?”
She reached for his forearms and stepped in closer to him, lifting her chin to meet his gaze. “We’re a danger for each other,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
“We are,” he rasped.
“And it’s scary. It’s terrifying, actually.” She closed her eyes, and the first few drops of liquid rolled down her cheeks. “But fear is what keeps us going. Fear isn’t the enemy, right?”
Shit. He stepped away from her and out of reach.
“Don’t do this, please. This isn’t one of your movies where we get to write the ending and everything works out.
This is real life.” He dragged a palm down his jaw, his body tight with the pull of indecision, even if he knew what needed to be done in his head—his heart was trying to guide him another way.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m some child. Some lover of fantasy with no grasp on reality. I deserve more than that.” She opened her eyes, the color deepening as if she’d been wounded. She brushed past him and headed toward the en-suite bathroom.
“Eva, wait. I didn’t mean—” He cut himself off when she slammed the bathroom door in his face. He rattled the knob, but it was locked. The sound of running water had him pressing his palms to the door. “Everly,” he said this time, hoping to catch her attention.
“Go away. It’s what you want, right? We’ll go back to the States and back to our lives of living in the shadows.”
“Open the door,” he commanded, his voice dropping as frustration gnawed at him.
He didn’t want to hurt her; it was the last thing he wanted—but that’s what would happen if they tried to see where their relationship could go.
After losing her twice within twenty-four hours, he couldn’t risk a third time in the future. A third time could kill her.
“Leave. I’m naked now, and I have nothing left to say.”
“Open the door,” he said, softer this time. “And I’ve seen you naked before.”
“Clearly, that won’t be happening again.”
“Don’t do this. I don’t want it to end like this.” He curled his hands into fists and pressed them against the wood, his knuckles whitening.
“As long as it ends, what does it matter?”
“You knew this day would come. You knew how impossible it would be for us.”
“And then you made love to me and screwed me all up again.” She smacked her hand, or something, against the door. “And now I am acting immature and crazy. Thanks for that.”
What the hell could he say at this point?
Could he tell her he’d love to take her to dinner, to try and have a normal life, and to see what could happen between them—that he’d love to play cards and lounge around with her on a rainy afternoon, and then have sex in every room of his home in Nashville?
Her life was more important than what he wanted, though. And he couldn’t forget that his head hadn’t been focused on the mission with her around. Of course, she wouldn’t be on future ops with him, but . . .
No, he was trying to convince himself it could work, and he couldn’t do that.
“Please, let me in.” He lowered his forehead to the door, bracing the frame as his heart and mind raced in different directions.
“Why? Our relationship started through a door, so maybe it should end through one.”
She was crying, and the sounds of her broken sobs would destroy him. “I need to see you. I need a chance to—”
“Say goodbye?”
He lifted his head and pushed away from the door.
“If I see you, I’ll want you to kiss me. And I can’t handle the touch of your lips, knowing it’ll be for the last time.” She grew quiet, only the sounds of the water in the back to lull him into a state of uncertainty.
“You’re leaving before me with Owen. I need to see you—”
“No,” she said and hiccupped. “Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry for everything that happened with your team, but let’s just end this here. If you don’t have any plans on changing your mind, I don’t have any plans on opening this door.”
He cursed under his breath, and rolled his head skyward as if the answers were above him. “Don’t do this.”
“I can be as stubborn as you.”
He almost smiled.
She was damn stubborn, and it was a quality that had had him tripping all over his words and actions ever since she’d made the decision to show up at the cabin a week ago.
“You drive me nuts,” he whispered, not sure if she could even hear him, or if he’d meant for her to.
“Ditto.”
He pulled at the tight skin on his throat and expelled a long breath. He allowed the silence to sweep between them, trapping them in the moment.
“I care about you,” he finally said after a few minutes. “I hope you find what you’re looking for in life.” His hand hovered before the door, and he resisted the impulse to shake the knob to try and see her again. “Goodbye.”
He turned on his heel and rushed from the room before he gave her a chance to respond.
“Can you stay in the room with her until she heads to the airport?” he asked Jessica once he joined some of the team.
“Yeah. Do I need to pick up the pieces of a broken heart when I go in there?”
“Like you’d know how,” he grumbled.
She rolled her eyes. “Liam’s on his way back, by the way. Harper’s doing much better. She’ll make a full recovery.”
“Thank God for something.”
She touched his chest, and his sister’s normally icy stare dissolved. “Are you okay? I mean, Will’s betrayal, plus—”
“It’s a lot, but I’m always okay, aren’t I?” he asked.
“Yeah . . . but I’m worried this time might be different.”