“Negative.She has the day off, and I know she’ll want to see Luciana as soon as possible.”
“Luciana doesn’t have anything with her,” Harrison said, his voice growing serious.“She doesn’t have anything except the borrowed clothes that she’s wearing.”
“We’ll handle it,” Ryan assured him.
The other men gathered around, and Harrison filled them in on the day’s plans.“After we get everything into the storage lockers, take the rest of the day off.We’ll be debriefing at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow morning.Dismissed.”
Chapter 15
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HARRISON BIT BACK Acurse as he pulled into his driveway two hours later, Luciana sitting quietly at his side.The woman was no doubt overwhelmed, and he didn’t know the first thing about handling the welfare of a former hostage.He’d impulsively told her that she could stay with him.While he didn’t regret it, he also didn’t know the exact next steps to take.It bothered him.Harrison was a man of action.He solved problems, found solutions, and this particular circumstance didn’t have an exact battle plan.
Luciana had been mostly silent on the drive to his home, but she was watching.Observing.She’d been cleared by the medical staff to leave base, and he was relieved they hadn’t needed to keep her overnight.He had a feeling that the last thing she wanted was to be confined to a hospital room, hooked up to an IV, being poked and prodded by doctors.
He wasn’t privy to the details of her exam, nor did he need to be.All that mattered, given the circumstances, was that she was healthy enough to discharge.
“Here we are—home sweet home.I prefer my solitude out here rather than being closer in to the city,” he told her as they came to a stop.“The Waikiki area is swarming with tourists.I need to be close to base, of course, but there’s a whole other Hawaii out here that people visiting rarely take the opportunity to see.”
She bit her lip, nodding, then sucked in a breath.
“Are you okay?”he asked quietly.
“Just nervous.Anxious.I feel like I don’t belong anywhere right now.I don’t have anything of my own.I don’t know what’s become of my belongings from when Avery and I were roommates, but I couldn’t go back to my housing there anyway.It feels like I have to restart my entire life.”
“That’s understandable,” he assured her.“And you’re absolutely safe here in Honolulu.We’re going to see about getting your things to you as well.Ryan already mentioned making some calls.They’ll be people you can meet with on base if you’d like—psychologists.”
“I don’t feel like talking to anyone about it,” she said.
“That’s fine, but the option is there if you change your mind.”
“Everyone was looking at me,” she said, sneaking a glance at him.“Not your team,” she added, noticing his ire.“I felt a bit like a spectacle leaving with you.”
He muttered a curse.“I’m sorry about that.The circumstances are unusual, to be certain.We don’t usually fly home with hostages.You’re not an American, either, which means I had a bit of red tape to fight.I handled it,” he assured her.
She didn’t say anything else or make a move to get out of his SUV, and Harrison’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.He didn’t like seeing her so quiet.He had a feeling the old Luciana was nothing like the woman currently sitting beside him.He’d only caught of glimpse of that when she’d insisted on bandaging his wound.She was a fighter.Independent.Someone who’d forged her own way in life.Harrison could appreciate that more than she knew.He’d take things at her pace though.If she needed a minute or an hour to get out of his SUV, then that’s what she needed.He had no problem with it.
