Chapter Five #3
“Good.” Sorenson tossed the medical detritus into the container set aside for hazardous material. “You and your teammates won’t leave this clinic until you have talked to the counselor, Ms. Sloan.”
Her temper flared. “Why does it matter so much to you?”
“Because I care about your mental health and your physical wellbeing.”
“Riley.” Andre said nothing else. Didn’t have to. She knew.
She sighed and turned to the doctor. “I apologize, sir. I’ll talk to Mr. Lang. I promise.”
“You’ll tell him everything.”
Riley hunted for a way out. There wasn’t one. “Yes, sir.”
He snorted. “How much did that hurt?”
“More than I’m willing to admit.”
The doctor pointed at her. “Be honest with Lang. You won’t do yourself any favors by holding back. He’s obligated to keep what you discuss to himself. Not even Maddox will convince him to divulge your secrets.”
“Yes, sir.”
He shooed them out of the exam room. “Go. I have other patients to see.”
Andre stood. “Do you mind if we use one of the recovery rooms for Riley’s session with Lang?”
“Of course not. You’re free to go after the session is finished. And Marsh?”
“Yes, sir?”
“I really don’t want to see you again for a long time.”
He grinned. “I understand, sir. The feeling’s mutual.”
“Out.”
Andre picked up his shirt and escorted Riley across the hall to the recovery room they’d used. He closed the door and dropped his shirt on the bed. He cupped her face in his palms. “Do you have anything to say about what I told Maddox about us dating?”
“No.” She prayed he wouldn’t change his mind. That would break her heart.
“No objections to dating me?”
Riley sucked in a breath and grabbed her courage with both hands. “No.”
Andre’s gaze grew more intense. “Exclusive?”
“Yes.” She would not share him with anyone. If he declared himself hers, that was it. No other woman had the right to be in a relationship with him. “If you change your mind, I better be the first person you tell.”
“Although I promise to be honest with you, I won’t change my mind, and I expect the same in return.” He slid his hand around her nape and urged her closer. “May I kiss you to seal the deal?”
“Yes, please.”
Andre captured her mouth with his, the touch gentle and careful, as though going on a first date.
As the minutes passed, his kiss deepened by degrees, becoming more possessive, although he was careful to leave her multiple ways to step out of his arms if she chose.
Based on his actions, Andre wanted her to know she wasn’t trapped with no escape.
Long minutes later, he lifted his head and stared down at her. “Any objections or concerns about that kiss?”
“That was more than one kiss.”
His eyebrow rose. “How many kisses did we share?”
“I lost count after the first three.” Riley touched her lips with her fingers. “You have some serious kissing skills, Mr. Marsh.”
He chuckled. “So do you, Ms. Sloan.”
She shrugged. “If I do, it’s because you taught me.”
Andre stilled, shock growing in his eyes. “What did you say?”
“Never mind.” Riley turned away, embarrassed that she’d spilled the news that quickly. Good grief. His kisses had turned her into a motormouth.
He caught her arm and turned her around to face him. “Talk to me, Riley. Did I understand you correctly? I’m the only man you’ve kissed?”
Face flaming, she nodded.
Andre’s eyes flared. “I’m honored you chose me to share your first kiss.”
She waited. He said nothing. Finally, she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Are you going to ask why?”
“You’ll tell me when you’re ready. It’s enough for me to know that I’m your first kiss. If I have anything to say about it, there won’t be kisses from anyone else. I’ll be your only.”
Shock rolled through her. Her only kisses? Was he serious? Andre meant to keep her? No, that couldn’t be right. She must have misunderstood him.
He tapped her watch. “It’s time to call Lang. Do you want me to leave or stay?”
She went with her gut instinct. “Stay. Please.”
He looked pleased as he gave a quick nod and picked up his shirt again. “Make your call. I’ll be here if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll stay quiet.”
Riley steeled herself and called Marcus Lang as Andre tugged on his shirt.
The counselor answered on the first ring. “Hello, Riley. Switch over to video, please.”
Oh, man. Riley swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.” When she switched to a video call, Marcus Lang smiled at her.
“There you are. It’s nice to meet you, Riley. Are you in a place where we can talk privately?”
“I’m in one of the recovery rooms in Bayside. Andre Marsh is with me.”
Andre sat in the chair beside her. “Hi, Marcus.”
“Andre! Good to see you, buddy. How are you?”
“Nursing a bullet wound from a mission.”
“Sorry to hear that, my friend. Paige won’t be happy to know you’re injured again.”
“Tell her I’ll be fine, all right? I don’t want to upset her.”
“You’ve got it.” Marcus shifted his attention to Riley. “Now, do you want Andre to stay in the room? I can ask him to leave if you prefer.”
“No, I want him to stay. We’re…together.” And didn’t that sound strange to say. She liked it, though.
Understanding lit Marcus’s eyes. “Ah, I see. We’ll let him stay for now. If at any time you change your mind, Riley, say something and we’ll ask Andre to wait outside. He’ll understand. So, why did you contact me? What can I do to help?”
“Dr. Sorenson insisted I talk to someone. Andre recommended you. I wasn’t comfortable with the other Fortress counselors I’ve talked to.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is this conversation related to a mission?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tell me about the mission from the beginning.”
For the next hour, Riley told Marcus everything about the mission and how things went from the time the terrorists kidnapped her until the jet touched down in Bayside.
Marcus was silent for a moment. “What bothers you the most about this mission?”
“Christopher.”
“What about him?”
“The boy reminds me of myself.”
“How?”
Riley’s gaze flicked to Andre for a beat, then returned to Marcus. “My childhood shares some similarities with his.” Some, but not everything. She certainly didn’t grow up in an ambassador’s home. The abuse, though, was all too familiar.
“Explain.” He held up a hand. “Are you still comfortable with Andre in the room?”
Andre wrapped his hand around hers. “I can wait in the hall. It’s up to you.”
“Stay with me.” Riley didn’t know if she could get through this alone.
“All right,” Marcus said. “Go ahead, Riley.”
“Andre and I believe Christopher is a victim of abuse.” Her throat closed so tight she couldn’t say anything else.
“Just as you were?”
She nodded.
“Do you have proof of your suspicions?”
Riley was so stressed that for a minute she thought Marcus was asking her for proof of abuse from her childhood.
Andre shook his head. “No, sir, we don’t. Just a lot of suspicion based on his reactions to situations and things said.”
“It’s a serious accusation. You need irrefutable proof before you accuse an ambassador of abusing his child.”
“We know, sir, and we also want Christopher to be safe regardless of whether we have proof. We can’t let him go back to his father without some kind of guarantee he’ll be safe.”
“Hard to do.”
“We know.”
“Anything else you want to tell me, Riley?”
“The weird thing about this whole situation is we don’t know why the kidnappers wanted me so much they risked all to take me down in the middle of a mission. For that matter, how did they know where Artemis would be?”
“That is an excellent question to focus on. If you can answer that question, it might lead you to answers for some other issues you’re facing.
” Marcus glanced over his shoulder and said something to someone, then turned back.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to go for now, Riley.
I have another counseling session in fifteen minutes. ”
“Thank you for taking so much time for me on short notice, sir.”
“If you need me, call me. Day or night. I’ll be glad to listen and hopefully offer advice that might help.
For now, remember you’re a well-trained operative.
You are not a helpless victim anymore. The best security company in the business has trained you to defend yourself and your principals, and you have the skills and weapons to do the job.
Not only that, you have your team and your man.
Andre has your back, Riley, just as you have his. Together, you’re a formidable team.”
Some of the tension and stress dissipated as he spoke.
Marcus was right. She wasn’t helpless anymore.
She could protect herself and others. Even in the room where she’d been held captive, Riley could have escaped her bonds and defeated her captors.
Three against one meant a hard fight. She’d trained for combat against more than one opponent, though.
The drug they used to knock her out had slowed her reflexes and would have made defeating the men who held her against her will more difficult.
“Thanks, Marcus.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Riley. Andre?”
“Sir?”
“Take care of your woman.”
“Copy that, sir.”
Marcus ended the call.
Andre helped Riley to her feet and eased her into his arms. He said nothing for several minutes, waiting until her body melted against his.
“We need to talk to Maddox before we return to the airport. I don’t want Christopher to overhear this conversation.
Do you need a minute, or are you up to seeing the boss? ”
She stepped back. “I’m ready.” She’d have to be. Riley wanted to get out of here and back on her home turf as soon as possible.
Andre sent Maddox a message, then returned his phone to his pocket.
Maddox arrived two minutes later. He walked into the room and closed the door. “I received a message from Zane a few minutes ago. You won’t like it.”
Cold chills surged up Riley’s spine. “What did he say?”
“Based on everything he’s found online, there is no proof of abuse in the ambassador’s home. From all appearances, Christopher is an adored and happy child.”
Andre’s hand fisted. “Brent….”
The Fortress CEO held up his hand to stop him.
“I know. I’ve seen Chris’s responses, and I recognize the signs of abuse.
His responses are like my daughter’s before Rowan and I married, and I adopted her niece as mine.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do without proof unless Chris speaks up.
I know he’s spoken to Dr. Sorenson. Do you think he’d be willing to speak to Marcus Lang? ”
“I don’t know. All we can do is encourage him to be honest with Marcus.”
Riley straightened. “Chris might be more willing to talk to Marcus if he met him in nonthreatening circumstances.”
“I agree with Riley.” Andre threaded his fingers through hers. “Is there a way to delay Chris’s return to his father long enough to get Marcus to Nashville so he can talk to Chris?”
“It’s possible. I’ll ask. In the meantime, I’ll work on an excuse to keep Christopher with me for a few days.” He walked to the door and twisted the knob. “The jet’s fueled up and ready. Jordan will fly us home as soon as we’re ready.”
Andre glanced at Riley. “Give us a couple of minutes, sir. Then we’ll be ready to leave.”
After a quick nod, Maddox left the room.
“What’s wrong?”
Her breath caught. So, he’d been paying attention to everything she told Marcus. Should have known he would. Andre was a sharp man. “It’s nothing.”
He shook his head. “Don’t downplay it. I know something is wrong. I can’t help if you won’t talk to me.”
She froze. Holding back was not the way to build a relationship. Wisdom from Angie from years ago.
She wasn’t good at this relationship stuff.
Riley was bound to make mistakes and alienate Andre.
How could she hope to build something permanent with him when she made mistakes that others would know not to make?
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what I’m doing.
I’m no good at relationships.” Probably came from not having one of this variety.
“Join the party, babe.” Andre cupped her cheek with his palm. “I don’t know what I’m doing, either. We’ll learn together.”
“Are you mad at me now?”
“Again, I’m disappointed, not angry.”
Riley flinched.
“Whatever happened in your past, Riley, I’m in your corner. Every time for every fight. Let me help if I can. If nothing else, lower those barriers so I can be available for you.”
He was right. She needed to give him a chance, although helping in this situation seemed impossible. How could anyone help with things buried in the past? “What I told Marcus was true. A lot of what happened to Christopher I understand from firsthand experience.”
The muscles in his jaw hardened. “You were abused as a kid?”
She nodded.
“Is the perp in jail?”
“They are.”
“More than one.”
Another nod. Man, she hated this.
“Did you get counseling?”
“Some.” Not enough. She never went back after the first session. Pretty sad she felt unsafe even in the counselor’s office.
“Did you feel comfortable with Marcus? If you didn’t, Fortress has several counselors in its stable. If you go through them all and still don’t find one who can help, we’ll go to an outside network and search for more.”
She stopped him with fingers pressed gently against his lips. “I like him, Andre. I don’t need to look for another counselor.”
“Good. How can I help?”
“You already have by sitting with me while I dumped a bunch of jumbled thoughts on Marcus. I’m still concerned about Christopher.”
“So am I. Trust Brent to sort this out and to protect Chris while he digs through the muck to find the truth.” He brushed her mouth with his. “Let’s go home. We’ll start fresh once we’re on our own turf.”
But would that be soon enough to protect the boy?