Page 70 of SEAL of Valor

Weston obliges, groaning as he goes, and I slide into place, moving my jacket out of the way so he’s lying in my lap rather than on the stiff jacket.

“How does she know you?” Unsure what else to do, I run my fingers through his thick, dark hair. The movement eases some of my nerves, grounding me in the present and his presence, rather than the fear slicing through me with every passing moment.

“Brenda used to be our handler,” he says. “Our last mission as SEALs went sideways, and she used that to blackmail us into working for her agency. We found out later she’d been responsible for everything. She tried to kill Tessa a couple of years ago to get back at Zane.” He snorts. “Kind of a tired motive if you ask me. She’s just repeating her playbook with us.”

So she’s the one Tessa was talking about.

“Get back at him. For what?”

“Not sleeping with her. She always had her eye on him, but he was uninterested. We all were.”

Brenda’s words come rushing back to me. “I had to meet the woman who captured Weston’s heart of stone.”

I lean my head back against the wall. “Max and I went on a couple of dates; that was all. Ash and I have been friends for two years. How did I not see?”

“It’s okay, Reese. You couldn’t have known.” He closes his eyes. “I need to rest. You should, too.”

“Okay.” The word is barely above a whisper, and even though I know he’s right and I should get some sleep, too, I keep running my fingers through his hair, all the while trying to figure out how to get us out of here.

Surely Ryker, Tessa, and Anastasia will know we’re missing by now. They will have alerted the police, who will be out looking. There had to be security cameras in that parking lot, which means it’s only a matter of time before they track us here…right?

Chapter 20

Weston

Pain is the first thing that registers when I surface from sleep. Next is the feel of slender fingers buried in my hair and Reese’s soft breathing as she sleeps propped up on the wall behind her.

I remain where I am, soaking in the feeling of being close to her, because I know all too well how fleeting moments of peace are in the midst of war. Which is exactly what we’re wrapped up in right now.

It may not be an army we’re facing, but Brenda is as volatile as any trafficker or dictator we’ve come up against. Maybe even worse because she is manipulative enough that she managed to hide the truth from all of us for six years.

The door opens, so I open my eyes and glare back at the woman I was just thinking about as she steps into the room, a sly smile on her face. She raises one finger, the nail sharp and black, and gestures for me to come forward.

With a deep breath, I bite down on the inside of my cheek to hide my pain as I sit up, moving slowly so that I don’t wake Reese. After checking that she’s still sleeping, I use the wall to push to my feet. One of my eyes is nearly swollen shut, giving me minimal vision as I walk toward Brenda, but I’ve operated with less.

I’ve dislocated shoulders, broken ribs, and still managed to do my job. This will be no different. I call on my training, bury the pain, and move forward.

When I step out into the hallway, she cracks the door and crosses her arms. I take note of the two armed guards with her, one behind me, one behind her. Both with weapons already drawn and at the ready.

I grin. “What’s wrong, Brenda? Don’t trust me?”

She barks out a laugh. “Cowboy, I’ve seen you take down entire squads in a matter of seconds. So, no. I may hold all the cards here, but that’s only because I choose not to underestimate you to feed my own ego.”

“Let Reese go, and I won’t fight. I’ll do whatever you need me to do for however long you need me to do it. You know I’m good for my word.”

“Oh, honey. She doesn’t walk until the job is done because I don’t trust your word. The second my leverage is gone, you’ll level this place even if it means you die inside, too.”

She’s right. One hundred percent.

“I’ll be keeping her on a tight chain until I’m ready to put you down. Then, I’ll let her go.”

Put you down. Those three words tell me one thing: I’m not walking away from this. Not this time. For any rational man, that would likely bring a dose of fear. But for me? All it does is seal my resolve that I will get Reese out of this. No matter the cost.

Even though it hurts, I cross my arms. “You really need a new playbook. First, Tessa to manipulate Zane, and now Reese to manipulate me. Your creativity is suffering, Brenda. Truly, I’m disappointed.”

She grins. “Why change something that works? Even knowing what I did with Tessa and Zane, you still didn’t see me coming when Reese showed up.”

“Well, to be fair, I assumed you’d be rotting away in a black site.”