How could I answer him? I had no idea what was going on.
“No.” He softened a little. “Of course you don’t. Look, I need to salvage what intel I can out of Juric, so do me a favor. Keep Dunn away until I’m finished. He owes me that.” He turned to face me and put a hand on the edge of the door. “He’s waiting for you in the studio.”
The door clicked shut, and I took off, bolting down the hall.
46
JASON
I’d been pacing erraticallyacross the studio floor ever since Plavko had left me here, every muscle in my body screaming to go. To do something. He’d asked me to stay put so he could try to save his cover, and I was doing my best to hold to that, but my resolve was slipping with every fucking second.
I had my back turned when Laurel entered. I sensed it was her, always acutely aware when she was near. I turned to see her standing with a hand on each side of the doorframe, a gun in one of them, and she was out of breath as if she’d been running.
She was still in that infuriating white dress.
I didn’t say a thing, didn’t move an inch. Was this the girl I fell in love with, hesitating in the doorway? Her eyes were clear and focused on me, but her face was completely unreadable.
Then her bottom lip quivered. “Jason.”
Sheknewme.
The 9mm fell from her grip and clattered to the hardwood. Her right hand went to her left and yanked the two rings off her finger as she stormed toward me. They were flung to the ground where they bounced and rolled away.
As she reached for me, I drew her into my arms and crushed my lips to hers, overwhelmed. She was still mine. After more than a month of brainwashing and God only knew what else. I’d sort all that out later, but the only thing that mattered was thewoman with her arms thrown around my neck, her kiss searing across my lips.
It felt so incredible to have her back. As the emotions poured through me, my heart tripped and stumbled, unable to keep its rhythm. I shook with relief, and maybe she did too, but it was impossible to know.
Our mouths moved together, eager for connection and to make up for lost time.
When we finally came up for air, I set my forehead against hers and closed my eyes. I was almost too afraid of what her answer would be. “Are you okay?”
“I am now. There’s still a lot I don’t remember, but things have been coming back faster since you got here.”
More relief surged through my system. I cupped her face in my hands so I could gaze into her haunting eyes that I’d missed so much. She peered back like she wanted to relearn each detail of my face.
I wanted to go back to kissing her, but there was an urgent matter we needed to address. “Is he still alive?”
Her shoulders lifted on a deep breath. “He was when I left him with Plavko. He’s an American?”
“He didn’t say it, but I assume he’s CIA.”
“How . . .?” She couldn’t make the pieces fit.
“They’d been looking for a way in. Three weeks ago, Frey needed a bodyguard, so Plavko was invented. At least, that’s the story I got.”
“From who?”
“The cameraman.”
The one in the square who Plavko had chased after. Only, I explained, he hadn’t smashed the camera, he’d gotten a message through to me. Give him a week to finish his undercover work before I came riding in to the rescue. He’d promised to keep her safe until then.
I only made it four days.
How could he have known I wasn’t any good at following orders?
My only regret was that I had waited at all. For the first time in what felt like forever, I was back on solid ground. It felt like the earth hadn’t collapsed with Shawn’s phone call she’d vanished from detainment.
“Where are they?” I asked.
