“Yeah, I’m all set, don’t worry,” I said under my breath, relieved she wasn’t addressing the truth bomb I’d detonated and left to explode between us.
“How do you feel now?”
“No.” I frowned. “How doyoufeel?” I dropped my eyes to her handiwork. Now I just needed an IV or something sugary to wake me back up.
“I’m more concerned about you.” She used the towel to clean her hands, then did something I didn’t expect: She set her hand on my cheek. “You risked your life to get answers. I wish you hadn’t done that. The idea you may not have come back to us is too terrifying to think about.”
“So don’t think about it, then.” I pushed through the fog and the discomfort and remembered something critical. Something important. Another reason why I had to keep my distance from her. “This is what I do. Mission first, my life second.” I let her in on another bit of truth I doubted she knew. “We’re not private security anymore. We work directly for President Bennett now.” That was classified.AndI didn’t care. “My life could end at any moment. Country over self.” I’d done it again. Taken a page from her book and continued to remain out of character. To overshare.
“Alejandro.” She shifted closer, resting her forehead against mine, never losing hold of my face.
“Please don’t say my name like that.” I covered her hand, her warmth grounding me more than the bandage ever could. “Please don’t say that name at all.”
“Why not?” Her mouth pinched tight, etched into a sad line that hurt me to see.
“Because I like how it sounds too much,” I confessed.
Her eyes narrowed, slanting toward my lips. “Oh.” There it was again. That little sound that I wanted to catch with my tongue.
“Peligroso,” I reminded her, my heart hurting more than my side. “Dangerous.”
“Which part?” Her brows lifted.
“Talking about myself, because I just might tell you things I shouldn’t.”
“Like?” she whispered.
My stomach muscles tensed, but my throat didn’t constrict, and out the truth came despite my efforts to stop it. “That I used to thinkI could have it all. A career. Wife. Kids.” I swallowed. “A dog, too, so Reed would visit, since he’s better with animals than people.”
“And she ruined the idea of that for you?” she asked in a tentative, nervous tone, like she was terrified to hear the truth. To hear theyesfall from my mouth.
So I gave it to her in Spanish, knowing damn well she’d still understand. “Sí.” I dropped my voice lower when promising, “But I won’t let Mitch destroy your future the way Beth did mine. I won’t let him take your peace. Got it?”
“Alejan—”
The door flung open, sending my name from her lips to the ether, and she immediately jerked back, hands falling to her lap.
Reed.NotRyder or Trevor. That was something, at least.
His gaze volleyed between us, his eyes landing on the bandage at my side. “You good?” he asked me.
Not even close to being there, so of course I lied. “Yeah.”
Audrey pointed at the phone he was clutching as he approached the bed. “What is it?”
“A text came through over the burner the guy had on him. Curious to see if you could confirm whether Mitch really sent it, based on what it said.” He handed her the phone. “Although looks like these guys know a lot about him, so they could be faking it. Pretending to be him for some reason.”
Unknown:Audrey, it’s me. Yes, I’m alive. And I need you. All our lives, including Chase’s, depend on you helping me. Be in touch in 72 hours with instructions. DoNotlose the key. I’m trying my best not to hurt anyone you care about, but if you keep putting up a fight, you may give me no choice. Love you. Don’t forget you love me too. —Hell
“Chase,” she gasped. “Is he threatening him, too, if I don’t do what he asks?”
“Are you sure that’s Mitch?” Reed asked her before I could wrangle my angry thoughts and form a coherent sentence after reading his message.
“That’s how he signed off on texts when he’d send me a message from an unknown number so I’d know it was him. He used to sayHellwas his brand. He said, ‘I sign off withhellbecause that’s what I raise.’ It started as a joke, but it stuck,” she explained, her voice trembling.
“But his friends would know that,” Reed said, “so that doesn’t mean this is really him.”
That ugly, dark part of me that wanted him alive so I could be the one to kill him just got uglier and darker.
