Chapter 3 #2
Despite her fear about what this might do to her body and the danger she’d be walking into, she knew she’d made the right choice.
Life was about taking risks, and while she’d never been much of a risk taker, she was glad she was doing this.
For years, she’d sat nice and safe in front of her computer, tucked away in Prey’s secure building.
It had never really occurred to her that danger lurked so closely until Ava had been abducted.
Of course, she knew the world was a dangerous place.
She couldn’t not get that when she spent her days scouring intel that would be used to help keep Prey teams alive as they went on dangerous ops and gathered the information they needed to rescue innocents, or capture and sometimes kill dangerous people.
But doing that from the safety of her computer and seeing it happen in real life were so very different.
Ava’s abduction changed everything.
Then Tobias going back into the field after a back injury, which ended his career, because the trafficking ring had gone after one of their own had inspired her.
He’d been willing to put his health on the line, and in the end, he’d come out of it finding the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
And Teresa had been willing to allow herself to be abducted by the ring a second time to try to get them intel. If her tracker she’d been working on had failed, she could have lost her life, but that hadn't stopped her.
Her friends, her teammates, they were brave enough to make tough choices for the greater good, and she wanted to be the same. Maybe she was a bit more na?ve than the rest of them, maybe she was a bit softer, but she could be brave, she could be strong, she could even be tough.
She had to be, because she wanted this trafficking ring destroyed.
This was her part to play in making it happen, and there were going to be no regrets.
If she felt a little sick for a while, it was a small price to pay.
Certainly a much smaller price than Ava had paid.
She’d had a kidney stolen by the ring. A smaller price than Isabella had paid, she’d been tortured and sexually assaulted by the guards while forced to play nurse to the ring’s victims. And they’d taken part of Teresa’s liver, but still she’d been prepared to take them on again.
They’d all lost so much, and all she had to do was take some medication that made her feel a little queasy.
Easy peasy.
“Here.”
Startled, she looked over the back of the couch to see Josiah walking out of the kitchen carrying a steaming mug in his hands.
When they finally got home from the hospital, she’d gone up to take a shower and change, then settled on the couch in the living room, while he’d disappeared, she assumed to go back to the gym and work out his excess energy.
Honestly, she hadn't expected to see him again until dinner time, and given how she was feeling, she probably would have ordered something rather than cooked. But it wasn't even four thirty yet, still at least an hour away from when she’d drag herself to the kitchen or give in and order takeout.
“Coffee?” she asked as she took the mug.
“Tea. Lavender. Supposed to relax you or something.” He shrugged and looked away, like he was embarrassed.
Not that he needed to be.
Being thoughtful was nothing to be embarrassed about, it was just normal, common courtesy behavior.
Still, for six years, Josiah had been working at pushing people away, keeping distance between them, so it was no wonder he was feeling uncomfortable now, he wasn't used to doing this kind of thing anymore.
“Thank you. I love lavender tea, it’s actually my favorite.” Holding the mug up to her nose, she breathed in deeply, letting the soft scent soothe her. Trying out different flavors of tea was always fun, and the first sip she’d taken of lavender many years ago had her hooked.
He grunted but then held out his hand. “Painkillers.”
For a moment, Chelsea thought about assuring Josiah that she wasn't in too much pain, it was more just like general discomfort taking over all of her body, but he was making an effort, trying to take care of her, and she found she couldn’t say no.
“Thank you,” she said again as she took the pills, popped them into her mouth, and swallowed them down with a sip of her tea. “Mmm,” she moaned in delight as the sweet lavender flavor touched her tongue. “This is perfect. I didn't even realize I needed it until you made it for me.”
Another grunt, but she would have sworn that Josiah’s cheeks pinked slightly.
“Let me take a look at your stomach,” he said, already dropping to his knees.
He didn't wait for her to lift the hem of her oversized T-shirt to give him access to the small wound and device that was now attached to her, although not as it would be if she were really having dialysis.
“Doesn’t hurt, just a little annoying,” she assured him, because his brow had furrowed and she wasn't even sure he was aware that one of his large hands rested against her stomach, his thumb brushing small circles around the tube.
This right here was why she’d fallen so hard for this man.
He was angry at the whole world, she got that, but it was because of what had happened to him, because of all he’d lost. Josiah was a good man who didn't know how to deal with his trauma and was so terrified of suffering any more loss that he had erected a thousand-foot razor wire-topped fence around his heart.
But he was suffering alone, and he didn't have to.
She was here, and she’d help if he could just let her.
“I am feeling a little … blah, though. So I thought I might just order us some dinner rather than cook.
I guess that means you're off the hook for eating with me tonight.” She could use the company, but the deal was that if she cooked, he ate with her.
If she wasn't, she couldn’t expect him to hang around, that wouldn't be fair.
His gaze snapped up to meet hers. “You hate ordering food.”
Surprised he knew that about her, she gave a small nod. “Guess I’ve been too spoiled over the years. My mom loved cooking, so we hardly ever ate out, and Teresa loves cooking, too, so since we live together, she usually cooks for all of us.”
Josiah cleared his throat, and she didn't need to know him well to know he was uncomfortable again. “I already got a pot roast cooking.”
There was nothing he could have said that would have surprised her more.
Nothing.
Not even if he told her he was a Martian who’d come to take over the Earth.
“A pot roast?”
“We had all the ingredients,” he said, dropping his gaze again to stare at her stomach. “I put in carrots, potatoes, onion, and parsnip. I thought you might not feel like cooking, and I didn't want you to have to order takeout if we could avoid it.”
“That’s so sweet, thank you,” Chelsea gushed.
Josiah just grunted and shrugged, moving her T-shirt back down to cover the tube.
Before he could stand and move away, she grabbed hold of his hand, keeping him close.
Not ready for there to be much distance between them.
Even though he would have preferred to do this alone, she was part of it, and he was all she had for a support system. She was all he had, too.
“I mean it. I know you don’t like any of this. I know you don’t … like me—”
“Stop saying that,” he growled.
“Saying what?”
“That I don’t like you. I never said I didn't like you.”
“I just assumed. You don’t like anyone.” She got that it was to protect himself and not personal, but still, Chelsea believed that Josiah no longer had the ability to like people.
“The only people I hate are those responsible for killing my team. Are you responsible for that?”
“Uh-uh.” She shook her head for emphasis.
“Then I don’t dislike you,” he grumbled as he gently tugged his hand free from her hold. “I’d better go check on dinner.”
“It takes at least four hours or so to make a pot roast,” she called after his retreating back. She heard his grumble, but it was a half-hearted one at best, and she giggled in delight at the revelation he’d just given her.
He liked her.
Josiah actually liked her.
Not in the way she wanted him to, but he’d told her he didn't dislike her and mentioned his team in front of her when he usually never spoke about them at all.
Maybe things weren't completely hopeless, maybe together they really could work together to bring down the organ trafficking ring, and come out the other side as friends.