Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
Panic lit her chest on fire the second consciousness returned.
“Shh, you're okay, I'm right here,” a voice rumbled beneath the ground she was lying on and immediately put that fire right back out.
Because it wasn't the ground that had rumbled, it was Van’s chest, and she was snuggled against it like it was the most comfortable bed in the world, and it was. There was no place Makayla would have wished to get some much-needed rest than right where she’d fallen asleep.
It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a hallucination, it was real. Van had come for her, she was safe now, rescued. Only she wasn't quite sure what that meant, because they were still out here in the forest.
“How long was I asleep?” she asked as she lifted her head and took in the darkness all around them. It was long enough for day to have changed to night, and yet Van was still sitting right where he’d been when he made her come, and then she drifted off to sleep.
“About twelve hours,” he replied, looking down at her with a warmth in his dark gaze she’d never seen before. Those black eyes were always carefully empty. Well, they had been, but they weren't anymore.
“You sat here all this time and let me sleep on you? You must be so uncomfortable.” When she tried to shift, because her weight must have made his legs go numb, his arms immediately tightened around her, keeping her in place.
“If I didn't want to hold you, Makayla, then I wouldn't be. I would have gotten a sleeping bag out of my pack and tucked you into it. You're right where I want you to be.”
His words warmed her, chasing away the chill that had settled deep inside her, and she didn't fight the instinct to frame his face with her hands and press her lips to his. She’d love to do so much more, to finish what they’d started yesterday, to feel him inside her, to make him hers, but she was also very aware that not only were they not alone because there was a Delta Force team nearby, but there were still the men who worked for the man who’d bought her out here somewhere as well.
With that in mind, she reluctantly pulled back. “We need to talk, don’t we?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, we do. I wish I could just bundle you up, carry you to a plane, get you back home, safe and warm, with your injuries treated, and let you have the rest you need, but we need to figure out how we’re going to proceed.”
There was something in his voice that told her there was already a plan in place, but it was one he didn't like. “Where are they?”
“Right here,” Trigger answered before Van could, and immediately the other men appeared as if out of thin air and moved in to form a loose circle around them.
It was pretty cool how they did that, and she couldn’t imagine the amount of training they’d gone through to be able to do what they did.
It was reassuring to have them all here, to know she wasn't in this alone anymore.
Drawing in a deep breath, Makayla reached for reserves of strength that were dwindling and forced herself to ask. There was no use pretending she couldn’t guess what they had planned, it was obvious in the fact that they hadn't left yet, but she had to know for certain.
“I want to know what it is. The plan,” she added, just to be clear.
Around her, expressions were exchanged, and an entire silent conversation had taken place without her. When in the end everyone was looking at Van, she shook her head forcefully.
“No way, he’s not in charge of me. I want to know what's going on, because I have a feeling that I already know, and that I'm right at the center of it,” she told them.
Lifting a hand to rake his fingers through his hair, when Van looked down at her, illuminated in the thin light of a torch they’d set up while she was sleeping, his black eyes were no longer blank.
It was like a door had unlocked, and now she could see everything swirling inside him.
So many emotions, so much fear, regret, guilt, and longing.
There was softness there, too, warmth, affection, compassion.
Doubting what he felt for her would be pointless, and she wanted a chance to explore these feelings they’d both developed.
But the only way to do that was to fix this problem first.
“Please,” she said softly, directing this word to Van. He wanted to protect her, she got that, but sometimes the best way to protect someone was with the truth.
“The man who bought you, his name is Asahi Watanabe. Normally, when someone purchases a woman from Azure, we get all their details. Name, address, bank details. But not this time. All I knew was the man’s name and that you were being sent to Japan,” Van explained.
“Why was this time different?” she asked, sensing the significance but not yet able to put all the pieces together.
“Because there was only one reason I could think of that Azure wouldn't care about the man’s bank details and address,” Van replied. “We always suspected there were two men running Azure. I've always been pretty sure who one of them was, but not the other.”
“And you think this Asahi Watanabe is the other head of the ring?” Had she really been bought by the person running Azure?
That was crazy. And she’d managed to escape from him.
That had to be bad for business once it got out.
“That’s why you're here,” Makayla continued before anyone else could speak.
“You couldn’t send anyone in to look for me because you didn't have an address.
If I hadn't gotten myself out, you still wouldn't know where I was. Azure sent you here to find me so I could be returned to him, to Asahi Watanabe. That’s the plan. You want to take me back to him.”
It hurt to say the words, even though it was what she had suspected since waking up and finding they were still in the forest. She was so tired, a bone-deep weariness, all she wanted to do was take the world’s hottest and longest shower, then sleep for about a week.
The last thing she wanted was to walk back into that house, hand herself over to the head of Azure on a silver platter, and play bait. But what choice did she have?
“We need something concrete,” Van said as though willing her to understand that it wasn't that he wanted to do this, it was that he had no other choice, but she already understood that. “I need proof. Something we can take to the cops so the ring can be dismantled. Asahi Watanabe is so hands-off with running Azure that it’s taken me months to get his name, and I’ll need something to link him to the other head.
If we don’t do this right, get everyone dealt with at the same time, then they’ll just rebuild. ”
“It’s okay, Van,” she soothed, touching a kiss to his lips, trying to infuse into it everything she was feeling, well most of it anyway.
She didn't want him to feel her fear, but she wanted him to know she wasn't angry with him, didn't blame him, understood and was willing to do this. Because she couldn’t live with herself if she didn't.
Maybe if she did this, it could undo her taking a life. Balance the scales.
“We won't be leaving without you,” he assured her. “We just need a little time inside that house so we can search it and find something, a ledger I believe exists that will prove everything. But when we do, or even if we don’t, we will be leaving later today and taking you with us.”
“What if …” Makayla paused to swallow down the terror threatening to overwhelm her. “What if he won't let you take me?”
“Not happening,” Van said firmly. “We’ll be taking you with us no matter how we have to make it happen.”
“Absolutely will,” Lefty piped up.
“We need to take you back in, pretend we caught you, then while we’re there, we’ll search.
Hopefully, we’ll get what we need, then grab you and go,” Van explained.
“Worst case scenario, we’ll kill everyone there.
Regardless, I am not leaving you behind.
And you do not have to do this, Makayla.
If you don’t want to, we will figure out something else.
We’ll claim we found you already dead, get you back home, and find another way to get into that house. ”
“But this will be the easiest way to get access,” she said, which they all knew.
She could say no, but she wouldn't. If she could help stop Azure, stop anyone else from going through what she and the other women had, then of course she had to do it. She trusted Van and the others to protect her. There were a million things that could go wrong, she understood this was laden with risks, but the truth was, if she said no then she could never live with herself. So there was only one option. “I’ll do it.”
September 2nd
2:53 A.M.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Van said, standing outside one of their rented SUVs, leaning through the door to look at Makayla, who was snuggled up on the backseat.
She still looked a mess. They couldn’t clean her up properly and give her new clothes to wear, because they were supposed to be here on behalf of Azure, righting Makayla’s wrongs, and returning her to the man who was her rightful owner.
The only way he was able to put a Band-Aid on his rage was knowing that they’d given her painkillers, that she was hydrated, and she’d had something to eat, so he knew she was no longer hungry.
It wasn't enough, nowhere near it. She’d only had twelve hours of sleep, and given what her body had been through, that didn't even come close to giving it what it needed.
She was doing this because she felt like she didn't have a choice, because she was too good, too caring for her own good.