Chapter 11
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Natalie gripped the man’s offered hand and climbed onto the dock, her legs shaking so badly she nearly fell.
The world tilted, and she wasn’t sure if it was from being on the water or from the adrenaline crashing through her system.
Another man appeared—this one broad with wavy hair and kind eyes—and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. The warmth was immediate and shocking, making her realize just how violently she’d been shivering.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Hudson pulled himself onto the dock behind her, and for a moment their eyes met. Even now, even after everything, part of her wanted to move toward him, wanted the comfort of his arms around her. She’d always loved the way he held her—strong and steady and safe.
But he wasn’t safe. He was the reason she needed safety in the first place.
And none of what had happened in their past had been real.
Hudson reached out to steady her as she swayed, his hand catching hers.
The touch sent that familiar spark through her—the same one she’d felt the first time they’d touched, the same one she’d felt every time since.
Her body’s stupid, traitorous response to a man who’d been lying to her since the moment they’d met.
Natalie jerked her hand away, angry at herself for feeling anything but fear and betrayal.
“Where are we going?” she demanded, pulling the blanket tighter around herself.
“Somewhere safe,” Hudson said.
“Stop saying that!” The words came out sharper than she’d intended, edged with hysteria she couldn’t quite control. “Stop giving me non-answers. Where. Are. We. Going?”
Hudson’s expression tightened, but his voice remained calm. “To my headquarters. It’s secure, protected. No one can get to you there.”
“And my father?” The question burst out before she could stop it. “What about my dad? He’ll be worried. I need to call him, I need to—”
“We’ll figure that out when we get there,” Hudson interrupted.
“Figure it out? He’s probably terrified! I disappeared, I’m not answering my phone—”
“Natalie.” Hudson’s voice was firm now. “We don’t have time for this discussion. Those men from the marina aren’t going to give up. They’re probably already mobilizing to find us. We need to move. Now.”
The curly haired man—Maverick, Hudson had called him—gestured toward the helicopter. “Ma’am, if you’ll come with me.”
Natalie looked at the helicopter, its rotors still spinning and causing her wet hair to whip around her face.
Then she looked at Hudson, at his two colleagues who watched her with professional concern.
She looked back across the dark water, toward the marina where people had tried to kill her.
She had no phone, no car, no way home. She was soaking wet, still tasting bile, shaking with cold and shock and fear.
And the only person who could possibly explain any of this was a man who’d been lying to her for three months.
“Fine.” Her tone had a touch of defeat. “But when we get there—wherever there is—you’re going to tell me everything. The truth. All of it.”
Hudson nodded slowly. “I will. I promise.”
Another promise from a man who’d built their entire relationship on lies. But what choice did she have?
Natalie let Maverick guide her toward the helicopter, each step feeling like she was walking away from her old life and into something she couldn’t begin to imagine.
Hudson watched from the dock as Maverick helped Natalie into the helicopter, securing her in one of the rear seats.
She looked so small, wrapped in that blanket, her wet hair plastered to her face. Nothing like the confident woman who’d sat across from him at dinner just hours ago.
Jake Laudner, his team leader, appeared at his elbow, his expression grim in the low light. “Hudson. Quick debrief—what are we dealing with here?”
Hudson kept his eyes on Natalie as he spoke. “Sigma operatives most likely. At least four, possibly more. They followed me to the Back Bay marina, armed with tactical rifles.”
“How’d they know you’d be there?”
That was the question of the day, wasn’t it?
Hudson’s mind raced through the possibilities, each one worse than the last. “Ravenscroft must have been tracking Natalie. When she followed me, they followed her.”
“She followed you?” Jake’s voice dropped lower.
This was it. The moment where Hudson could come clean, admit that he’d compromised himself, that his relationship with Natalie Ravenscroft had crossed every professional line imaginable. That he’d fallen in love with the target’s daughter and let his emotions cloud his judgment.
If he told Jake the truth, he’d be pulled from the assignment immediately. Possibly suspended. Definitely subjected to a full review of every decision he’d made for the past three months.
And Natalie would be handed over to someone else for protection and interrogation—someone who didn’t care about her, who’d see her only as an intelligence asset to be grilled for information.
Hudson only had a split second to make his decision.