Page 28 of Defending Van

Or was that dogs?

Whatever. It certainly wasn't the first time his boss’ kid had been excited to see him. She always was. So it wasn't like he could say anything about him had changed between the last time he saw Azalea and this time, but this was the first time he’d ever given much thought to it. Over time, he’d just become so accustomed to people shying away from him. Even kids used to do it when he was at school, and other adults when he was in the military. It was one of the reasons he’d gravitated toward undercover work, so he could work alone.

Yet Falcon’s daughter seemed to like him, and the tiny girl wasn't the only one who seemed to see something in him.

A stubborn, determined, gorgeous woman who had every reason to want him dead, but who had instead declared she was glad she hadn't slit his throat in her attempt to escape, also seemed to⁠—

His thoughts trailed off as he spotted a figure slinking up the stairs below him. This factory wasn't as well fitted out as the warehouse had been, and there was no elevator to take from the basement level up to the main floor, so the stairs were the only exit.

Only none of the guys would be slinking up the stairs, keeping close to the wall, and moving that cautiously.

Which meant …

How the hell had she managed to get out again?

Picking up his pace, he didn't bother to hide his approach, and he heard Makayla gasp and saw her freeze as she tried to weigh up her options. Which were nothing. Either she kept going and faced whoever was coming, or she turned around and went back down to where she’d only just managed to escape. Neither of those options was any good for her.

“It’s me,” he announced as he took the last few steps down three at a time to where she was.

At the sight of him, she let out a shuddering breath and sank back against the rough concrete wall. “Van,” she said, the relief in her tone at it being him and not one of the others obvious, but it was the small smile she offered him that almost had him faltering.

What was he going to do?

No one would ever have to know that he had returned in time to see her escape. He could let her go without worrying about being punished for it. Her escape would mean a whole lot more work for him, since they’d have to pack up and move again, probably quick-sale the other five women, which was the last thing he needed after Nathan and then Mateo left, but …

None of that seemed to matter as he looked down at the woman watching him, waiting to see what he was deciding her fate was going to be.

“Go,” he said. He didn't need to think about it. He might be empty inside, but he knew what the right thing to do was, and for once, he wanted to do it rather than shoving down any and all emotion and act like a robot rather than a human being.

“You're sure?”

“Yes. The only cameras in here are mine, so no one will ever know that we talked, that I saw you and didn't stop you.”

Pushing off the wall, she closed the couple of feet between them, stopping right in front of him. Then she pushed up onto her tiptoes, placed her palms on his pecs, and touched a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”

Unable to speak, her gratitude too overwhelming, Van merely nodded. Instead of thanking him, she should be berating him for being part of this nightmare she’d gotten trapped in. All because Adrian’s cousin had a problem that needed to be taken care of. The man might not know that Adrian worked for a human trafficking ring, but he’d been confident that his cousin could take care of the social worker trying to take his kid from him.

“Go,” he said again, more gently this time.

Nodding, she took a step away from him but hadn't made it up more than half a dozen stairs before he heard shouts.

Whatever she’d done to get out had just been discovered.

“Sorry, Makayla,” he muttered before he launched himself at her, tackling her and taking her down, although turning their bodies so that his was the one that took the brunt of the fall. “Got her!”

His scream drew the others’ attention, and he heard them coming. Laying there, he second-guessed his decisions. Didn't matter how many times he tried to remind himself that Makayla wouldn't have gotten away regardless. There were seven able-bodied men down there, against one woman who was already weakened from being starved the last several days. They would have found her before she made it out of the building, let alone before she made it down the couple of blocks it would take for her to get to a road with people.

Still, it felt wrong to have been the one to catch her.

“It’s okay, Van. I know you don’t have a choice,” she whispered, right as the others ran up the stairs toward them.

“You got her,” Hank exclaimed.

“She knocked Josh out cold.” Deacon snickered.

“Probably gave him a concussion,” William added, clearly amused by the whole thing now that they knew Makayla hadn't managed to escape.

Pride flared to life inside him as he dragged the woman in his arms to her feet. She’d managed to knock out a man twice her size? Damn, that was impressive. Now he wished he’d let her run and then tried to slow the others down long enough to give her a shot at reaching freedom.