When he saw Nate wasn’t going to say anything, Kole added, “Seriously, man. I know you never would have left that cabin if you didn’t think she was safe. I only said those things to you because I’m pissed and scared and, I don’t know. I just want her back.”
“You think I don’t?” Nate looked at his friend incredulously.
Kole studied him a moment. Then, very slowly, the corners of his mouth raised. “You really care about her, don’t’ you?”
Rather than answer the question, Nate responded with one of his own. “Is that really so hard for you to believe?”
Kole’s immediate reaction was to shake his head and say, “No, man.” Then, the truth came out. “Well, maybe a little bit. Yeah.”
“Right.” Nate clenched his jaw and shook his head before looking away.
“Oh, come on, Nate. Can you honestly blame me? The entire time I’ve known you, you’ve had no desire to settle down. Hell, even the night you and Gracie met you were spouting off bullshit about how love isn’t for you and all that crap. So, yeah. If I’m being completely honest, it does surprise me. But, I see it now.”
Nate’s brows crunched together. “What do you see?”
“The way you are when you talk about her. And you’ve got that same look in your eye now that I’m sure I had the night that asshole tried to hurt Sarah.”
“What look is that?”
Kole smirked. “Like you’re ready to kill anyone who dared hurt your woman.” He rubbed his fat lip. “Or knock the shit out of someone stupid enough to run their mouth about her.”
Nate gave him a half-smile. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’d be lying.”
Kole chuckled. “I know.”
A moment of silence passed between the two men before Nate began speaking again. “I get that Gracie and I haven’t known each other all that long. And yeah, I know the list of serious relationships I’ve had in the past is, well, non-existent. But I think I might be…” he paused, swallowing hard. “IknowI’m in…”
He didn’t say the words, terrified of what they meant for him.
With a knowing smile, Kole gave him a nudge. “Just say it, man.”
Nate looked his friend in the eyes and admitted, “I’m in love with her, Kole. Ah, Jesus.”
Sucking in a breath, Nate bent over at the waist and rested his hands on his knees. Feeling as though he were going to puke all over Jake’s concrete slab, he forced himself to take several slow, deep breaths.
Kole barked out a laugh and slapped the back of Nate’s good shoulder. “Welcome to the club, my friend.”
“God.” Nate stood up straight again. “What the fuck am I going to do, Kole? I can’t lose her, man. I can’t.”
All signs of humor gone, Kole looked him square in the eye and vowed, “You won’t.”
Chapter 16
Two days later…
Sweat trickled down Nate’s back in a steady stream. A heavy, protective vest covered his thin tee, which was becoming more and more soaked as the minutes passed by.
From behind his dark lenses, he kept watch out the abandoned home’s cracked window and inwardly cursed Turkey’s sweltering heat.
Fucking shithole country.If he never stepped foot in it again, it would be too soon.
After landing at a private air strip not far from their current location, one of Homeland’s local assets picked them up and drove them here. To the middle of fucking nowhere.
Using the structure’s thick, stone wall as a shield, Nate kept himself hidden from the outside while maintaining a decent view of the immediate area out front. So far, he’d seen no sign of the men they were waiting to meet.
“They’re late,” he grumbled.
“They’ll be here.”
