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Chapter 15
When Maria arrived back at the hotel, it was four in the morning. By then, her phone had nearly twenty messages and missed calls from a frantic Cam Taylor. So instead of falling into bed for a couple hours of sleep like she’d hoped, she hustled down the hall and knocked on his door.
“Thank fuck,” he growled, pulling her inside. The profound look of relief on his face caught her off guard.
“I’m okay,” she assured him.
Cam gave her a critical once-over, then held his phone to his ear. “She’s back. I’ll let you know. Yeah, thanks.”
When his brief, one-sided conversation ended, he turned his full attention to her.
“Maxim Ivanovich, gun for hire,” she said, skipping any preamble.
“Shit.”
Maria spent the next few minutes sharing the highlights of the meeting, ending with Esteban del Fuego’s urgent warning about Teag and loose ends.
“We have to get him to a safe house,” Cam said. “Mike’s working on it as we speak.”
“I want point on this,” Maria demanded.
Cam raised an eyebrow, and Maria softened her tone. “Please. I need to do this. I will keep him safe.”
Cam sighed. “I know you will, and you have enough medical training to take care of him.”
That was true. Maria had received the highest level of field medic training on her team. Her role hadn’t been a medic, but she’d been the one to deal with injuries in real time until she could hand off the teammate to someone more qualified.
“Maria.”
She heard sympathy in Cam’s tone and bristled. He put a hand up.
“I know what it’s like to have the person you care about in danger. Hurting. It’s a distraction.”
“I won’t let…”
“Stop and listen,” he said, cutting her off.
She clamped her mouth shut.
“Nothing would have kept me from Lissa, even when she didn’t want me around, as I’m sure you remember.” Cam cleared his throat, and Maria suppressed a grin. She did remember.
In the midst of their personal drama, Lissa’s stalker had escalated, and despite Cam’s reluctance to commit to a relationship with the woman he loved, he’d stuck to her like glue trying to protect her. While at first Cam had pushed Liss away, believing he was too broken to deserve her, eventually he’d pulled his head from his ass.
Men were stupid sometimes. But then again, Maria hadn’t behaved much better when it came to Teag. She’d judged him and pushed him away because of her own past trauma.
“Rely on your training and your instincts, and rely on us to have your back,” Cam continued. “Try to keep your feelings for him in a box.”
Maria snort-laughed, and then quickly reined in her reaction. The guy was still her boss.
“Yeah, I know. Rich coming from me, but when I had to do my job, I did my job first and foremost.”
Except when he’d beaten the shit out of Lissa’s stalker and almost gotten himself arrested. Otherwise, yeah, he’d done his job. Of course, Maria didn’t mention that.
“I hear you,” she said instead.
Cam gave her one more critical look before nodding toward the door. “Get some sleep. Tank and Jennings are at the hospital overnight. Tomorrow, we’ll move him.”
**
