It takes her another two minutes to manage a shaky breath. “H-how can y-you be sure?”
Easing Lisette back, I cup her cheek. She turns into my touch. “I was on comms—with Ford—for the operation. I heard everything.”
“You heard him die?” At my nod, she adds, “But you did notseeit.”
“There’s no fucking way Ryker and Dax would let him live, Lisette. Not after what he did to Richards. Faruk was dead the second they knew their brother was still out there. But if you need proof, I’ll get it for you.”
Leaning back against the cushions, I urge her to relax against me.
“You don’t have to be afraid of him anymore. No one does. After Ryker and his team left, he called in some guys he’d worked with before. They burned half the compound to the ground. Everything that had to do with his business, the computers, the offices…gone. The women are all with a local aid organization. Half of Faruk’s men surrendered. The rest are dead.”
She doesn’t say a word. Shit. I’m making a fucking mess of this. But when I’m about to let her go and give her some space, she nestles closer to me.
“Before Mateen was born, every time he punished me, I would pray he would go too far and kill me. After…I had no such hope.” With a shudder, she adds, “Thank you.”
I should tell her I didn’t do a damn thing. That if I’d known about Richards—hell, if I’d known abouther—that I would have killed the shitstain a week ago. But then her breathing slows, and her entire body relaxes into sleep.
For an hour, we stay locked together. Lisette’s legs are draped over mine, her head on my shoulder, and her soft breaths ghosting over my neck. God, she smells like the sweetest flower. My hand rests on the small of her back, and her sweater rides up enough for me to feel several thin, raised scars over her creamy skin.
I should wake her. Or carry her into the bedroom. But this is one of those rare, perfect moments in life, and I won’t do a damn thing to ruin it.
Too soon, Lisette jerks awake with a little gasp. Her lips are only an inch from mine.
Don’t do it.
My inner voice—the one that’s kept me alive through some of the most dangerous operations no one’s ever heard of—screams at me, but Lisette looks up at me with such raw need, I slide my hand up to the back of her neck.
My first taste is heaven. Velvet lips. A hint of coffee mixes with the salt from her tears. Her tiny moan promises so much more. A future. A home. Alife.
Until my phone—jammed in the front pocket of my jeans—buzzes, the pattern one I can’t ignore.
Easing Lisette off my lap, I check the screen.
AP: Need you in Kabul, STAT. Call me.
Shit. The world knows Amir Abdul Faruk is dead, and there’s going to be hell to pay.
I thumb out a quick reply, telling him I need five minutes, then shove the phone back into my pocket. Lisette stares down at the floor, her cheeks flushed bright red.
My fingers curl under her chin, and I urge her to meet my gaze. “I can’t stay, sweetheart. I want to. More than anything. But…”
“You do not have to explain.”
The way she shies away from me makes me want to kill that bastard all over again. He did this to her. Doused the spark that now lives as a ghost in her eyes.
Sliding my hand back to her neck, I hold her in place. “Yes, I do. Remember what I told you outside that mosque? That ‘I’m the one they send in when shit goes sideways’?”
She nods. Then in the next breath, her green eyes widen. “His death would have started a war. You said that too. And now it has?”
“I don’t know, but if the head of the United States Joint Special Operations Command is calling me, it can’t be good. Can I take you back to the hospital? You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
A tiny tremor skates down her spine. “I cannot let Mateen see me like this. He will know something is wrong. Go. Vasquez is outside. He will take me back to St. Jude’s when I am ready.”
My phone buzzes again. I should tell Pritchard to fuck off and stay with Lisette. I’m retired. But if shitisgoing down in Kabul, I can’t walk away.
I pull Lisette closer and seal my lips to hers in a hard, desperate kiss full of everything I wish I could say.
She walks me to the door, her hand in mine. “You will not leave without saying goodbye, will you?”
