Hospital.
She’d immediately recognized the telltale signs, despite the foggy haze filling her brain. Her lids fluttered as she forced them to finally peel open.
At first, all she saw was a blur. It took several blinks for her surroundings to become clear. When they did, she confirmed her suspicions.
She was in a hospital room. Her left arm was bandaged and secured in a thick, white sling, and she could feel the wrappings of gauze and whatever else they’d used on her injured leg.
I’m alive!
Her gaze shifted slightly, and her pulse skyrocketed when she realized Jagger was there.
He’d scooted a chair as close to her bed as possible. The railing on that side had been lowered to give him more room, and he’d fallen asleep with his head on the mattress, beside her leg.
Natalia’s heart soared, instinctively knowing that, by some miracle, he and his team had found her in time. No one had told her that, of course. She’d only just regained consciousness for the first time since blacking out in that field.
I thought I was going to die.
But she hadn’t died. She was here. And Julian was dead.
Pinpricks of tears burned the corners of her watering eyes. She still couldn’t believe all that had happened.
Julian wasn’t dead, like she’d thought. He’d been alive all this time, and he’d used his connection with Sanchez to plot against her and Keith. Sanchez had killed Julian a fraction of a secondbefore Julian could shoot and kill her. And for reasons she may never understand, Sanchez had chosen to let her live.
In the back of her mind, Natalia knew the horrors of what she had faced would eventually sink in. But for now, all she could think was?—
I’m gonna need a shit ton of therapy after this.
Her eyes fell shut with a sigh, and she felt a single tear slowly run down her temple. It was the only one she allowed. She wasn’t quite ready to face what her friend had become or the part she’d played in making it happen.
It wasn’t her fault. She knew that. Julian’s fate wasn’t on her, nor was it on Keith. The CIA, hell yes. But even then, not entirely.
The choices her former friend had made were his, and his alone.
What she’d told Julian about the hours spent doing all she could to find him was true. But it wasn’t until she’d faced down the barrel of his gun that she finally accepted the truth.
The responsibility for Julian’s so-called death three years ago was never hers to bear. Neither was hisactualdeath, which she’d witnessed—without a doubt, this time—through her very own eyes.
Natalia was well aware that grief would still come, eventually. But as she lay in the quiet room with the steady beeping and Jagger’s warm presence, all she felt now was blessed.
So blessed.
She opened her eyes to find the man she loved staring back at her.
“Talia.”
Her heart stuttered inside her tender chest from the way he’d breathed her name as he lifted his head.
“H-hi.” She cleared her throat, only then noticing how dry and raw it felt.
Jagger’s relief was impossible to miss. It seemed to envelope every part of him. It was there, in his falling shoulders. In the way his beautiful dark eyes had widened.
More than that, Natalia could feel the incredible man’s love as he stood and oh-so-carefully brought his lips to hers.
“Damn, darlin’.” He rested his forehead gently against the unbruised portion of hers. “You scared the ever-lovin’ hell out of me.”
“Sorry.” She tried like crazy not to cry. “And in case I forget to say it later…thank you.”
He pulled away with a frown. “For what?”
