I’m not okay. Not by a long shot. But I can’t tell him that. I have to keep it together.
When I open the door, he’s sitting on the air mattress, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands. His boots sit unlaced, ready to go, and he’s put the pistol right next to the pillow.
My body aches, and I sink down next to him. “Areyouall right?” I ask.
Trevor eases my running shoes off my feet. “I am now. Just wiped. But I’m not letting you out of my sight. Not for a minute.”
“You’re going to have to if you want to sleep.” I wriggle until I’m stretched out on my side, then wait for him to join me. “Unless you sleep with your eyes open. Which, if you do…tell me now so I can turn over, because that would scare the crap out of me.”
“I don’t.” Trevor skims his knuckles along my reddened cheek, and something inside me threatens to shatter into pieces. “I almost lost you,” he whispers. “I need to know what happened. Before I woke up.”
I don’t want to. I’m barely holding it together. But he’s so close, and the stress pushes me over the edge. Burying my face against his shirt, I breathe him in and find a hint of calm. Not enough to stop me from shaking, but enough for me to speak.
“I think I woke up when they came into the room. The door locks…they beep.” A shudder runs through me, and Trevor wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me almost on top of him. “They each grabbed an arm, and then I couldn’t breathe. Something…something was over my…” Not even Trevor’s scent can keep me grounded now, and my voice rises half an octave. “It hurt, and I took a breath before I could stop myself. But then I got so dizzy, and I knew I couldn’t inhale again or I’d…”
“You’re safe, Dani. Know that. You’re safe with me.”
I want to believe him. I need to believe him. But I can’t. Not anymore.
“I tried to fight,” I manage, “but they were too strong. And they had my arms.” Shaking my head makes the room spin for a second. “I said that already.”
“Stop.” He shifts so he can cup my cheek. “I don’t need to know the rest. I was wrong.”
“They…said…” I have to tell him. I wanted to back at the hotel, but I was too out of it. “I kicked one of them.” A hiccupping sob escapes, but I can’t cry. I don’t know how to let my tears fall. They just burn the corners of my eyes. Trevor brushes one of them away with his thumb, and I blow out an uneasy breath. “The bigger one told me to stop fighting. That no one was coming to save me.”
The noise that rumbles in Trevor’s throat is almost a growl. “I willalwayscome for you, Dani. When we get back to the U.S., you’re staying with me for a couple of days, and we’re going to talk about all of this.” His lids droop, and his shoulders relax slightly. “Never letting you go again.”
I can see the fight he’s waging with his body to stay awake, to stay present. All for me. But exhaustion has me in its grip as well, and I rest my head on his chest so I can listen to his heartbeat. “You’re sure you can trust Leo?” I ask again as my eyes close and I snuggle closer.
“Yeah.” The single slurred word is enough for me, and I let myself drift in his arms, ready to get the hell out of Venezuela and land somewhere we can finally figure out what this is between us.
Chapter Fourteen
Trevor
Something tickles my cheek,and for a moment, I forget where I am. Until Dani moans in her sleep, and I’m instantly awake. We’re in Leo’s basement, the only lights coming from his laptop and a single bulb over the stairs.
Glancing at my phone, I relax. We still have an hour before we need to leave for Puerto Cabello, and I’ll spend every minute of that I can with her in my arms. Why didn’t I insist on sleeping with her earlier?
Because you were scared.
The inner voice that’s kept me alive through years of covert operations isn’t happy with me right now. Can’t say I blame it. If I hadn’t woken up in time, she would have disappeared into the bowels of The Crypt.
I want Luis Rojas out of there with everything I am. He’s the key to taking down the organization that put Gil on the path to destruction. The organization that forced me to finish the job. I rest my cheek against Dani’s forehead as memories threaten to drown me.
“The Loma Collectivo wants the resistance eliminated completely by the end of the year,” I say as Oliver sends a map of Caracas from his laptop onto the wall screen. “And they’re willing to kill anyone who stands in their way.”
The briefing room deep underground offers few distractions, and we’ve been going over and over the intel Austin and I gathered the last time we visited Venezuela’s capital city.
“You’re certain they have Pritchard?” Ollie asks.
I pull a thumb drive from my pocket and plug it into the laptop. “See for yourself.”
The video shows Austin tied to a chair, shirtless, blood dripping from dozens of cuts all over his torso. He’s blindfolded with duct tape over his mouth, and his chest stutters as he struggles to breathe.
As Ollie stares, gaze riveted to the screen, a dark-clad figure enters the frame. It takes the camera a moment to focus on Gil’s face, but when it does, he’s smiling. “You shouldn’t have sent him, Trevor. I know all of his secrets. I grew up knowing them. Just like yours. You can’t stop me. La justicia está de mi lado!”
A knife flashes for a split second before Gil stabs Austin in the thigh. He screams and thrashes weakly, but he’s lost too much blood, and Gil was always a master of inescapable knots.
