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“An emergency bag, right now!” he bellowed again, and the man who’d been trying to help sprang to his feet and ran out.
Forcing his hands to steady, Dante wiped his tears away, their flow only thickening as he turned her with all the care and the desperation that had long ruptured his heart. He had to hang on, for her. He’d give her every drop of his blood. And what if it wasn’t enough…?
No! She had to live. He had it all planned. Her safe new life.
He checked her, murmuring to her. “Gulnar, amore mio, ti amo, ti amo. Open your eyes for me, darling.” Where had the bullet hit her? Where had this blood come from? Her head, her chest, her abdomen, her back—nothing anywhere. So where? Where?
He should have taken her away sooner! He shouldn’t have left her living as she had been one more day! He was to blame for this. He’d made an enemy of Molokai. He’d kept her near him, made her a target, too. But his greatest crime was that he’d been about to leave her, desolate and broken. She’d begged him not to leave her. Oh, God…
“Gulnar, amore, I won’t ever leave you, never waste a moment we can spend together…Just open your eyes—I beg you!”
The emergency bag landed beside him. He didn’t even notice who’d brought it. He tore it open, produced a stethoscope. But he was weeping now, huge racking sobs shaking him apart, and he couldn’t hear a thing. He forced himself under control and smoothed her hair away, traced her closed lids, coaxed her flaccid lips apart, bent and breathed his whole life into them.
Her lips moved beneath his and his heart stopped. He jerked back to look at her and her eyes shot open, then she shot up to a sitting position, spluttering. He almost blacked out.
She swayed, too, slumped back, holding her head. “Molokai…he shot his man—he fell on me. I barely turned my face away before hitting the ground…” Her eyes focused on his distorting face and panic flooded them. “Dante, darling—what happened? Are you hu
rt?”
“Are you? I can’t find any wounds and there is so much blood…” His words choked, his hands feverish all over her, his tears running faster.
“It has to be that guy’s. I only hit my head—again…” He immediately pounced, examining her head, revisited nightmares of their first day, of fractures and accumulating intracranial bleeding robbing him of all reason. She caught at his hands, brought him down to her, rubbing her face against his. His buried his face into hers harder. He’d never, never let go. At least until…She groaned and he jackknifed up. “I’m OK. I know I am. It’s just I have a wrecking ball inside my head. I always end up hitting the ground head first. Seems my head is the heaviest part of me!”
“And since it’s also the toughest part of you, we shouldn’t worry.”
Both Dante and Gulnar blinked and swung their heads towards the speaker. Emilio!
“You both OK, then?” Emilio lips were tilted into a half-smile. His eyes were anything but humorous. Both Dante and Gulnar, still clinging to each other, nodded mutely at him. “That was too close, folks. If it weren’t for the info we got from Helena, we would never have found you. Yeah, your instincts about her were correct, Dante. She’s Molokai’s mole and she worked with Tatiana to distract the guards at the camp’s access point near our tents. There were many casualties.”
“Damn! Damn!” Dante snarled. “I should have heeded my instincts. And GAO should—must have—a better screening system for its recruits.”
They were silent for a moment. Then Gulnar moved. Dante swooped to support her within the curve of his body. She chewed her flushed lip thoughtfully. “How did you find her out?”
Emilio pursed his lips, his face grim. “She seemed agitated after the attack and your disappearance became known. Her agitation felt disproportionate to her attachment to either of you and I got suspicious. I…persuaded her to talk. She was distraught that they took you, too. It was why she was so agitated in the first place. You’re her precious Dr. Guerriero!”
Dante’s stomach heaved. Gulnar ran a loving hand over his cheek, his head. “So she was getting rid of the competition, huh? I was right about the fatal attraction scenario, then. See what you do to women, Dante? She was willing to kill for you.”
“One more word out of either of you…” Dante shredded the words and spat them out. “And I’m liable to break the woman’s neck on sight!”
Emilio shook his head. “You won’t see her. She’s been taken into custody by the Badovnan authorities.”
“Lucky her.” Dante stood up, scooping Gulnar in his arms. “Let’s get out of here.”
Emilio closed the emergency bag, jumped to his feet. “You never said anything I liked better, Guerriero.”
Four soldiers immediately flanked them as they came out of the room, escorted them outside where the rebel installation was being turned upside down and everyone was in custody. And there was Molokai, on a stretcher.
“Is he dead?” Gulnar asked.
Emilio snorted in disgust. “He isn’t even seriously injured.”
“I’ll have a word with him,” Dante snarled.
“Dante—let it go, my love.”
He gave her lips a fierce press. “Stay with Emilio, amore. I’ll be a minute.”
She lowered her eyes, accepting his decision. His priceless Gulnar, giving him total freedom, when she knew one more word would have bent him to her will.
