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“You’re in the hospital. Let me go get the doctor and tell him you’re awake.”

She grabbed his wrist.

“No, don’t go,” she begged. Her eyes filled with tears. “Don’t leave me.”

She felt him sit down beside her on the bed. “Okay, Beautiful, I won’t leave. I’m right here, I promise.”

She shuddered as he bent down and touched his lips to hers. It was a soft kiss that she desperately needed.

He lifted his head.

“I was so scared,” he whispered. “I couldn’t find you. I thought he’d killed you.”

She frowned. “Who?”

“The man from Kraken.”

Amy closed her eyes. Flames burst behind her closed lids and her whole body jerked. Ryker’s arms pulled her close, and then she remembered. Her mother setting the kitchen fire, but it wasn’t her mother. Then she was in her coat closet, and it was filled with smoke.

“What happened?” She opened her eyes and looked into his. Now she felt safe.

Ryker kissed her forehead.

“You were in the closet. He set the fire and wanted you to die.”

“It wasn’t my mom,” she said with conviction.

He shook his head. “No, it wasn’t. It was a member of Kraken Elite. Frank told him to kill you.”

“Who is Frank?”

“He’s the—” Ryker stopped himself. “He was the leader of Kraken. They were an evil mercernary group that my team defeated when we were on our last mission. They were trying to get revenge on us.”

Amy tried to understand what Ryker was saying. It didn’t make any sense. “But that man who set the fire wasn’t the leader?” she asked.

“No, he worked for the leader. He’s dead. He ended up dying in the fire.”

“How did he know to target me?” She hated that her words sounded wobbly. She was stronger than this. But someone was out to get her. Kill her. Maybe wobbly was okay. She buried her face into Ryker’s neck.

“How did he know about me?” she whispered her question.

“Everybody I work with knows I love you,” he whispered back.

“But how?”

“The roses you sent. A Navy SEAL does not accept roses from a woman unless he is deeply in love.”

“They don’t? Then it’s so good you liked them,” she smiled as she pushed back on his chest to look up at him again. He was smiling. But then she got scared.

“And that’s how all of you think he found out about me?”

“That’s our theory, yes.”

“So Frank is going to come after me again?”

Ryker twined his fingers with hers on the hand that hadn’t been injured in the grease fire. He frowned.

“Frank is dead. You’re safe now.”