Her voice was small, and knowing this was a crucial moment for Celina, maybe even the first small step in the healing process, he called his copilot, and then gave her all his attention.
“They laughed about it,” she said frowning. “They talked about Marissa as if she was an empty carton they’d tossed in the trash.”
“We won’t stop until every gang member is rounded up,” he promised. “We won’t leave this here. The team has a hundred percent success rate, simply because we never give up. Your friend won’t be forgotten, nor will all the other women the gang abused. We won’t stop until Del Roca and every single vicious thug working for him has been dealt with.” He leveled a stared into her eyes. “Trust me on this.”
“I do trust you,” she said. “There’s no need,” she insisted when he started to undo her harness. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. You’re exhausted. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal. You could have been killed like your friend.”
“So could you,” she pointed out.
He shrugged. “It’s my job. It’s what I do.”
She firmed her jaw. “Then let it be my job too.”
“When you’re over this,” he agreed. “If you go back now, when you’re angry and grief-stricken, emotion will take over, and that could kill you.”
“I will go back and finish this,” she said stubbornly.
“Of course you will,” he soothed. “But for now, accept you’re in no state to help anyone, least of all yourself, so please, let me take over.”
She gave a small, sad smile. “You’re good at that,” she conceded.
“That I am,” he agreed.
His copilot’s timing was perfect. “Let’s go somewhere else to talk,” he suggested to Celina when the knock came on the door.
The switch of personnel was made smoothly. “Straight to bed,” he advised once he’d closed the cockpit door behind them. He escorted her to his private quarters at the rear of the jet.
~~o0o~~
She was soul weary and desperate to feel Diego’s arms around her. She needed to know he was safe, and she wanted him to know how much she appreciated him risking his life to save her.And for what? Marissa was dead.But so many other women would be saved.She had to cling to that thought, just as she had to cling to the fact that she’d come close to joining the ranks of the disappeared herself, and that she might have, if Diego hadn’t saved her.
His private suite on board the jet was such a contrast to the stinking barn where she’d been held captive that, for a moment, her head reeled. Her life recently seemed to comprise a series of stark contrasts, and while the cockpit had been full of distractions, this was a haven of calm. From the crisp white linen to the artwork on the walls and the thick layer of carpet beneath her feet, and even the pristine cleanliness, it was a perfect representation in miniature of the privileged world Diego inhabited. She couldn’t pretend she belonged here, but it was a welcome resting place, and for the next couple of hours, she was going to take him up on his offer and just say thanks.
“You don’t know what you’ve got,” she murmured as she looked around.
“I know what I almost lost.”
The tone of Diego’s voice made her turn to face him. And of course, the doubt came back. Maybe it was tiredness, but all she could think was,whathad he lost? Sex on tap? Her tech expertise? The fact she was a crack shot? Diego was a billionaire and a royal duke. She was an orphan, the girl with no name, who had been called Celina for no better reason than the moon had been shining on her blanket on the night she was found.But there had been a blanket.Someone had cared for her. Her mother had cared for her. It was just getting her head around the fact that the man staring with concern into her eyes right now seemed to care for her too.
She didn’t move as Diego took the single step necessary to bring her into his arms. “Stop,” he whispered. “Stop doubting, and trust me. Sometimes good things are taken away, like your friend Marissa, but not always. Don’t waste precious time fretting about something that might never happen.
“You can have your pick of women. Why me?”
He shot her a look of pure irony. “I’ve been asking myself that over and over. There has to be an easier option than a woman with a mind of her own.”
“A dog?” she suggested in her first weak attempt at humor.
“Even my dogs are willful, but I love them just the same.” He smiled ruefully. “What’s life without a challenge?”
I love you so much, she thought as he stood back and waited for her to climb into bed, but she knew she’d feel gauche and awkward in his sophisticated world. It was better to remain working for him, where she knew she could do a good job.
