Anora glances down at my son. A pang of guilt tightens my throat. I have no idea if he will ask about Nomar. He was so sick, I cannot even be certain he remembers the man’s name. But in this moment, Ineed to speak with Nomar more than I need anything else.
“If I decided to go for a walk—down the hall—would you suggest I go left or right?”
The nurse’s eyes narrow. “Right. But…do not go past room 247.” She checks her watch. “I can give you another fifteen minutes. After that, I must check on my other patients.”
“Thank you.” I want to hug her. But instead, I reach out and squeeze her hand. “If Mateen wakes up—”
“I will come for you.”
* * *
Nomar
Every time I move, another one of the wires and tubes attached to my body catches onsomething.
I don’t remember much of the past thirty-six hours. Pain. Gentle hands on my face. Lisette calling my name. Ford and Trevor carrying me. The rocking of a boat. Someone yelling at me to breathe.
Trev stopped by a couple of hours ago. Told me to rest up. That Lisette and Mateen were safe. He, Ford, and Joey are spending the night at a JSOC apartment building with more security than the White House, full amenities, and a goddamn concierge. By the end of the day tomorrow, they’ll be on their way back to Boston, but the doctor won’t spring me until the end of the week. Something about the bullet almost nicking my liver and the raging infection that followed.
At least this hospital room is halfway decent. If it weren’t dark outside, I’d even have a view.
I close my eyes and tug the blanket higher. The sheet skims over my piercings, sending goosebumps rising along my arms. In the field, I don’t notice them. But here…with nothing else to distract me…
It’s been too fucking long since anyone but me saw them. Or cared about them.
Dragging my hand down my chest, I flick one of the heavy gauge nipple barbs. My fever broke, but my skin is still ultra sensitive, and my dick twitches in response.
With my eyes closed, I try to call up the memory of the last woman I slept with. We weren’t an item. Hell, we’d only known each other three days. But the night we shared was the stuff fantasies are made of.
So why is Lisette’s face the only one I see?
“Fuuuuuck.”
“Nomar?” Her voice sends me jerking up. The stitches in my side pull taut, and I hiss out a breath. “Are you all right?”
Pinpricks of light hide her face as I try to calm my racing heart. When they finally fade, she’s standing next to the bed, concern drawing her brows together in such a way, I’d reach up to smooth away the furrow if not for all these damn wires.
If she’d been five minutes later, the sight she would have seen… I bend my left leg, hoping she won’t notice the tent in the blanket.
“I…wasn’t expecting visitors.”
Her cheeks tinge pink. Damp hair falls over her shoulders, all the way down to her elbows. Several old scars dot the pale skin of her arms, and deep finger bruises peek out from under the sleeve of her dress.
“Mateen is sleeping. No one would tell me how you were.” Lisette drags a hard plastic chair close to the bed and sits, her hands clasped in her lap.
“He’s not alone, is he?” She flinches at the harsh edge to my words. “Trevor was supposed to arrange for guards—”
“He did. And the nurse is with him.” Her back is so straight and stiff, and she won’t meet my gaze now. “I should not have come.”
“Wait.” I’m too damn weak to do more than brush her fingers, but the touch relaxes her enough to flick her eyes to mine for a single moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’d blame the morphine, but…” I shrug, “Really, I’m an asshole.”
Her laugh does more for me than any drug. Warmth settles in my chest. Even the stitches don’t hurt anymore.
“An ‘asshole’ would not have stopped Faruk from hurting me. Or put his life in danger to save us,” she says softly. “And you are right to worry. Mateen will not be safe until his father is dead. I…a part of me wishes you would have—”
I squeeze her hand. “Amir Abdul Faruk is one of the richest and most powerful men in Afghanistan. His death would have started a war. I couldn’t risk it.”
“What is one more war in a country full of them?” Tears shimmer in her eyes. “Mateen has a chance to grow up because of you. But we will have to hide…forever.”
