Before she’d ever stepped foot in Madagascar. Before her new friends had been ruthlessly murdered right in front her. Before some idiot had decided to fixate on her.
Before Jake.An invisible weight fell on her heart as his name entered her mind.
For years, Jake had been her best friend. For one magical night, he’d been so much more.
Then, the big jerk left without so much as a word. Two freaking months ago.
Olivia quickly shut the door on those thoughts. At least, she tried to.
Even on mornings like this, when she was so bone-tired she could barely make it up her porch’s four steps, thoughts of Jake somehow managed to push their way through.
She’d tried everything to keep from thinking about him, including nearly working herself to death. Some days it worked, but lately, even the double-shifts weren’t enough.
No matter what, Jake always seemed to be there. Drifting around in the back of her mind.
Olivia would be in the middle of completing a patient’s chart or stocking a room’s cart with various medical supplies, and she’d find herself wondering where he was and what he was doing.
Day after day, no matter what she did to avoid it, the same questions would roll through her mind.
Was he ok? Had he been hurt on the job? Was he ever coming back? If he did come back, would he even bother to come see her?
Then, she’d start to worry hewouldshow up, which created a whole new set of questions.
What the hell would she say to him? Would he still want to be her lover, or would they go back to being just friends?
Could they even be friends after the way he’d left her? Did she evenwantto be his friend anymore?
It began to consume her. So much so, Olivia hadn’t been able to resist contacting Homeland Security Agent Jason Ryker—Jake’s handler and one of the agents who’d questioned her about her abduction—more than once to try to find out what she could.
Olivia had only recently learned that Jake left his Delta Special Forces team—and the Army altogether—a few years ago to start R.I.S.C., an elite, private security company.
The acronym, which stands for Rescue, Intel, Security, and Capture, pretty much sums what Jake and the other members of R.I.S.C.’s Alpha Team do.
While running for their lives in the Venezuelan jungle, Jake explained his team often worked with Homeland Security, and sometimes even the FBI and CIA.
R.I.S.C. sometimes took on private citizens as clients, depending on the people involved and the situation.
Thanks to the very limited amount of information Jason had been willing to share with her so far, Olivia knew Jake and his team were on some big, important job. Supposedly, they had been since their questioning that first day back had ended.
Not every job R.I.S.C. took on was dangerous, but from what Olivia understood, most were. This explained why, even though she was beyond ticked at the man, she was still worried about him.
The last two times Olivia spoke with Agent Ryker, he’d assured her that he’d been in contact with Jake, and that he was fine. Each time he told her that, she’d had the same, roller-coaster reaction.
She felt immediate relief in knowing that, at least for the time being, Jake was safe. Then, just as quickly as her relief hit, the anger and pain would start to slide in.
When this part of the cycle came, Olivia’s mind would conjure up all sorts of mean-spirited—and very colorful—things to say to her good buddy, Jake. Words that would make a sailor blush.
Because the obvious question was, if Jake really was okay, then why hadn’t he contacted her? He’d obviously spoken to Homeland, so why hadn’t he calledher?
The night they spent together aside, he was her best friend. He should have at least found the time in the last two months to pick up a damn phone and let her know he was okay.
Olivia would then start to think that maybe it was agoodthing he hadn’t called. Jake was always so intuitive. The minute he heard her voice, he’d know something was wrong.
He’d worry. Probably catch the next flight home from wherever he was and swoop in to try and save the day. Olivia didn’t want that. She just wanted...him.
Yawning again, she didn’t even bother to cover her mouth, this time. Okay, so she wanted Jakeanda good night’s sleep. It had been far too long since she’d had either one.
After returning from South America, Olivia had started to dream about her late brother again. The dreams were different each time, but they were always terrifying.
