“Yes,” he said simply. “I’ll help you.”
Elena’s breath caught, hope flaring in her eyes. “You will?”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, and Reed could see the relief wash over her like a wave. When she opened them again, gratitude shone there. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Reed, thank you.”
He nodded, already shifting into operational mode. “What’s our timeline?”
“Five days,” Elena said. “The auction is set for Friday night. But we’ll need at least three days to plan, to get your team in position, to?—”
“Elena.”
She stopped talking, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
“We’ve got this,” Reed said quietly. “Five years too late, maybe, but we’ve got this.”
For the first time since she’d walked into his office that morning, Elena smiled. Really smiled, not the professional mask she’d been wearing or the broken expression she’d had when he arrived at her hotel room.
She smiled like the woman he’d fallen in love with over coffee and quiet conversations about faith and the future.
If Reed were a praying man, he might think that being with her, seeing her again, was an answer to his own prayer.
CHAPTER 5
Elena watched Reed move around her hotel room with the quiet efficiency she remembered from their time together at the facility. He checked sight lines through the windows, tested the locks on the door, and evaluated the room’s security with the practiced eye of a man who’d spent years keeping people alive in hostile territory.
She found herself studying the way his shoulders moved beneath his expensive suit jacket, the confident set of his jaw as he assessed potential threats. He was still devastatingly handsome, maybe even more so now with the added authority that came with success. The boy she’d fallen in love with had grown into a man who commanded rooms simply by walking into them.
Stop it,she told herself firmly.You don’t have the luxury of thinking about how good he looks.
But her traitorous mind kept cataloging details anyway. The way his dark hair caught the lamplight. The familiar gesture of running his hand through it when he was thinking. The broad span of his shoulders that made her feel protected just by being in the same room.
He was strong in ways that went beyond the physical, though she could see he’d maintained the muscular build of his SEAL days. Reed had always been her anchor, the steady presence that made her feel like she could take on the world. Even now, after five years apart and all the hurt between them, his very presence made her feel like maybe—just maybe—this impossible mission might actually work.
“We need to move you,” Reed said, turning away from the window. “This location is too exposed. Too many variables.”
Elena nodded, already mentally preparing to pack the few belongings she’d brought. “I have a secondary safe house across town. It’s not much, but?—”
“No.” Reed’s voice was firm. “My building has a secure floor. Corporate housing for visiting executives. No one will think to look there, and my security team can monitor all access points.”
The thought of being that close to Reed’s world, that integrated into his daily life, made Elena’s heart race for reasons that had nothing to do with operational security.
“Reed,” she began carefully, “I want you to understand something. What we’re up against—Webb isn’t just corrupt. He’s dangerous. The people he works with, the clients he sells to... they don’t hesitate to eliminate problems.”
Reed’s expression hardened. “I was a Navy SEAL for fourteen years. I think I can handle?—”
“That’s not what I mean,” Elena interrupted urgently. “I don’t want to hurt you again. Being near me, helping me—it puts you at risk. It puts your family at risk. Your brothers, your business, everyone you care about could become a target.”
She took a shaky breath, forcing herself to voice the fear that had kept her awake for years. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you because of me.”
Reed’s eyebrows went up, and something that might have been amusement flickered across his face. “I appreciate that, but I can take care of myself.”
The casual dismissal of her concern sparked a flare of irritation. “Reed, I’m serious. Five years ago, I had to choose between protecting you and completing my mission. I chose to protect you, and it nearly destroyed us both. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“What mistake?” Reed stepped closer, his blue eyes intense. “Protecting someone you cared about, or letting me think you were dead?”
The question hit like a physical blow. Elena wrapped her arms around herself, the familiar weight of guilt settling on her shoulders. “Both. All of it. I should have found another way.”
