Page 16 of Fighting Salvation

It was Lucía who’d told her she was in Barcelona.

Bás leaned into her. “What did he say?”

She knew this was important and she tried to remember her conversation with Hansen and pick apart what she could from it. “He said he was trying to make the world a better place and that it was a dog-eat-dog world, and he was just making sure he came out the victor.”

Bás worked his jaw and she was sure he’d need a visit to the dentist soon if he kept that up.

“That’s it? That’s all he said?” His voice rose and he began to pace, glaring at the world and she wished she could give him more.

“I got the feeling he was using me as bait to get to you. He knows how much the team means to you and he was trying to make you weak or force you to his will somehow. Before he let me go he said that he wasn’t going to do this yet but that circumstances had changed.”

“Most likely because of the bite,” Rafe said from beside her as he watched Bás pace the room.

Bás pinned her with a stare, his focus on her but his mind clearly elsewhere. “Is that it? Surely you must remember more.”

His words were sharp, angry and Val winced slightly.

Rafe stood suddenly. “Hey, back the fuck off. She just woke up from a fucking ordeal. Take it down a notch or I’ll do it for you.”

Val sat up in bed hating that she was like this right now, weak and pathetic. “It’s okay, Rafe.”

“No. It’s not. He doesn’t speak to you like that. I don’t give a fuck who he is.”

Bás glared at Rafe, his nostrils flaring with anger and she wanted to fix the tension between them but didn’t know how. Bás spun on his heel and walked out, slamming the door behind him until it rattled on its hinges.

Rafe sat again and shook his head before lifting his eyes to hers. “What the hell do you see in that jerk?”

Valentina coughed to hide her surprise at his statement. “What the heck does that mean?”

Rafe lifted a brow at her and she stubbornly held his stare. “Oh, please. We both know he’s the reason you won’t date. You only have to be in a room with the two of you to see the way you look at him and he looks at you.”

A gasp left her mouth.

“Don’t worry, nobody knows except your entire team.”

Val’s eyes widened and she worried that she looked like some foolish little girl in love with her boss and everyone knew it. Yet none of them knew the truth, not even her brother, and certainly not Niall.

“So back to my original question, what the hell do you see in him? I’ve only spent a day with him and I already want to murder the grumpy asshole.”

Val cocked her head watching her brother, who for so long had grieved for the loss of the woman he loved. He was happy, settled, and secure in what they had now and a tiny part of her was envious of that. Not that she didn’t want that for him or Nix but she wanted it for herself too and it wasn’t going to happen. Not when the man she loved didn’t even remember her or recognise her, and she’d never tell him.

“Not everyone gets their happily ever after, Rafe.” She pursed her lips, not sure what to tell him. She wanted to ease his worry and explain why Bás was the man he was but she’d never do that and she didn’t know the half of it. “He’s a lot like you.”

Rafe snorted. “Thanks… not.”

“I’m serious. Bás is a protector, like you. He takes on everything to protect the people he feels responsible for. He doesn’t care what it does to him or what he gives up, as long as those people are safe. The fact is he feels too much, and it’s left him slightly broken.”

“Did you know Hansen murdered his family?”

Her breath felt like it was sucked from her chest at his words. “No,” she lied, because how could she explain to him that she knew more than any of them did, or how.

“He came clean when news that you were taken came through. He and Hansen were friends as kids. Then one day Hansen slaughtered his entire family and he went to jail for it for five years.”

Her hand shook as she covered her mouth trying to force her sobs back. No wonder he was so broken and distrustful. He’d been betrayed by someone he cared about in the most heinous way possible. She thought back to the letters she’d exchanged with him when he was inside. Their relationship had been strictly via correspondence. He had no idea she was the girl he’d written to, and she’d never tell him. What had started as a dare from a friend to enrol in the programme for inmates, ended up being her first great love. Through his letters, she’d learned of his grief and his loss, his guilt and shame. In return, she’d opened up about how lonely she was and how stunted she felt by her life in Italy. It was his encouragement that pushed her to pursue her dream of becoming a dog handler. He was the one who’d broken her heart when he’d ghosted her after promising he’d always be there for her. She’d waited, watching for the post every day for a year until she’d written to the prison and been told the inmate had been released a year earlier. Her heart had broken in two. Even now it was a wound that still festered when she was down.

What was it about her that made it so easy for him to walk away? Yet meeting him again she hadn’t initially known who he was, not until she saw his handwriting. The name he’d used on all their correspondence was just the letter N for security reasons. It was also to stop the pen pal from finding out too much about the inmate’s crime unless they disclosed it themselves. To this day he didn’t know who she was. She’d thought it was behind her but her feelings for him had taken hold years ago, and nothing she did seemed to allow her to walk away.

“Val!”