The luxurious scent of his cologne soothed her. His body heat warmed her. His arms communicated physical power and emotional commitment.
Neither of them spoke. And neither let go.
She remained exactly where she was, holding him tightly. Bit by bit, the volume of their environment rose back to its proper level.
Her emotions billowed, pressing outward against the inside of her skin, making her feel as if she were on the verge of sobbing ... which she didn’t understand. She and Zander were both fine. She should be nothing but happy in this moment. She was happy. It’s just that she wasn’tonlyhappy.
She was also angry at Tom and his men. Horrified that she hadn’t been able to do more to defend herself or to escape. Ashamed and relieved and anxious simultaneously. Most of all, she felt helpless. Today’s events had stripped her sense of security from her. So much so, that she wanted to dissolve against Zander.
Except that if she lost control of herself now, she worried that it might be very ugly and very public. Shecould notweep in front of all these spectators. Or Zander, even.
She cherished him. Her heart was steely toward many things, but the section of it that belonged to him had gone alarmingly tender.
Back when she’d been ten years old and had burned her inner wrist, accepting her mom’s comfort had seemed to Britt like a liability. In this situation, loving Zander seemed like a liability, too. Best to keep the partition between them a little while longer. Until she had her feet back underneath her, she needed a sliver of distance.
She adjusted her position so that she could study his battered face. “You’re going to have a black eye.”
He regarded her gravely. “Your hands are bloody.”
“You have a bruise on your cheek.”
“The hem of your shirt is ripped.”
“Your knuckles are a mess.”
“Your hair is one big tangle.”
At that, her lips quirked into a curve.
“I was worried,” he said.
A simple sentence. Yet she comprehended its weight. He didn’t want to burden her by saying more, because he probably felt thathe’d gotten off lighter than she had today.I was worriedwas an understatement the waypail of waterwas an understatement forocean.
“I was worried about you, too.”
“I wish I’d told you as soon as I unlocked Frank’s phone.”
“What was the passcode?”
Dark lashes accentuated his slightly bloodshot midnight blue eyes. “Love.”
“Ah.”
“I also wish I’d never gone to Olympia,” he continued. “The FBI told me they were coming. I should have waited.”
She might be jumbled at the moment, but she was too fair to let him think this was his fault. “I wish I hadn’t chased you to Olympia without thinking through all the possibilities. I ended up bringing Tom down on us. I’m really sorry.”
“I’m sorry that I mixed you up in this. Britt, I would never want to hurt you—”
“I know.”
Tension lined his brow as he took in the contours of her face. “What did they do to you?”
“They put a hood over my head and drove me here. Then they secured my wrists behind a pipe and left me alone in a grimy room.”And I thought they might kill me, and I thought they mighthave killed you. “That’s all.”
He waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t want to talk about it more.
“That’s all,” she repeated.
