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“You’re wrong. He was not my lover nor is he my father.”
She was lying, but he had no intention of challenging her about it now. Instead, he addressed what he meant when he’d said they shouldn’t have been together.
“What I should’ve said earlier but didn’t, was that I wish, so much, that the first time I felt your skin against mine, I had been completely sober. I wish that w
hen I close my eyes, I could remember every inch of your body, exactly how you felt. I remember, but not enough. And I hate that.”
“You don’t remember anything.” The chill in her voice hadn’t warmed even a little. She was beyond angry, and she had every right to be.
“I’m sorry, Rocket Girl. The last thing I want to do is hurt you.”
“Let me go.”
He dropped his hands to his sides.
“From here. Let me leave.”
Gunner shook his head. “You’re here for your own protection. Until we can—”
“The same words Petrov used. How does it make you feel to know you think the same way as that monster?”
Gunner stood perfectly still, wishing he had a way to get through to her, but not at all insulted by her words. She knew as well as he did that the situations were entirely different. Regardless of who Petrov really was to her, he’d abducted her and held her prisoner. Gunner was keeping her safe from him as much as United Russia.
“You’re thinking that you’re keeping me safe from UR, aren’t you? Well, so was he. You’re thinking he didn’t give me a choice when he took me to Azerbaijan. Neither did you when you brought me here. You are no different. Don’t kid yourself into thinking you are.”
Gunner let her walk away from him and turned back toward the water, pulling his shirt over his head and his shorts off as he walked. It was deeper on this side of the island, so when he walked in, the frigid water assaulted more of his skin.
It wasn’t the same. Petrov held her captive. Gunner wanted to help her.
He pounded the water as he swam, processing what he’d just learned. Makar Petrov was Raketa’s father, he’d bet his life on it. Who was the other woman being held on the compound?
—:—
Her words did nothing to thwart him. Gunner would not let her leave, and without a way to communicate with anyone other than him, she was trapped on this island. She knew she couldn’t swim her way to freedom. Even if she could, once she arrived, she had no one to help her anyway.
United Russia wanted her dead. Petrov wanted her to deliver his daughters, and whether she did or not, she’d end up dead anyway. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that if she somehow managed the impossible and abducted the two of them, as soon as she handed them over, Petrov would kill her.
She couldn’t go to the CIA for help, because they worked with Gunner.
Raketa had always been alone in the world, but not like she was now. The only way she could stay alive would be to remain on this island with a man she was quickly coming to despise.
—:—
As he swam back to shore, Gunner thought more about his father than Raketa, remembering that the first time he set foot on this island was on this same beach when he was seven years old.
“Where are we?” he asked his dad when he dropped anchor and climbed out of the dingy.
“Indian Springs Island,” his father answered. “Come on now, I’ll show it to you.”
He waited while Gunner climbed out of the boat, and then held his hand as they walked to shore.
“What’s here?”
“Not much yet, but it’s all ours.”
He missed his father so much. He couldn’t imagine not having his dad in his life when he was growing up, or hating him like Razor felt about his father. The worst he could say about the man is he could sometimes be as cranky and ornery as Gunner was. Underneath it though, his father had a heart as big as his love for his country and family.
One of his dad’s proudest days had been when Gunner followed in his footsteps and joined the Marines. At the time, his dad was a four-star, stationed on the West Coast. Given his own permanent address was in Maryland, Gunner should’ve attended boot camp in South Carolina, but his father had pulled some strings so he could go to California instead. If he hadn’t, Gunner never would’ve met Razor or Leech Hess, Lena’s father and the man responsible for getting him the gig at the NCS where he also met Doc Butler.
