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“Speaking of women,” he said as he lifted his head off the pillow, pinning me with his gaze. “Who’s the girl?”
I closed my eyes, recentering on what had become the light of my life. “My future.”
He smiled, the first since being rescued. “So, someone finally got to you.”
“Yeah, I’d say that’s an understatement.”
Nate leaned his head back, a wistful look in his eyes. “Wow, I’m just now thinking of all the women before ...”
Beforeis what we called his kidnapping. Our lives were officially split into two blocks: before and now.
Before was the old us, where bad memories lingered. Now would be the new us.
“Do you remember Lisa?” His eyes sparkled.
“The girl you were dating before? Yeah. She’s here, dude.”
“No way.”
This time, I grinned. What is it about women that can bring a man to life? Mysterious, powerful, beautiful creatures they are.
He lifted his head again, his eyes widening. “Tell them to pump more shit into the IVs, give me a little muscle before I see her again.”
I laughed. “It’ll come in time.”
A moment of silence ticked between us, comfortable. A hint of how it used to be.
I felt his gaze linger on my scar.
“Brother?”
“Yeah?”
“Where did you get that?”
I knew this question would come, and I’d rehearsed a million different answers. In the end, I settled on, “From before.”
39
Sophia
Two Days Later
“How is he?”
I startled at the voice behind me, nearly dropping the coffee cup I was carrying into the kitchen.
“Sorry.” Ryder, Justin’s friend and a fellow mercenary, flashed me an apologetic smile.
“It’s okay,” I said, turning fully to him. “He’s still asleep.”
Ryder nodded, pleased. Of all Justin’s friends, Ryder was the most concerned for his colleague. I assumed it had something to do with the fact that he was expecting his second child with his wife, Louise, whom I’d yet to meet.
“Where are Roman and Drake?” I asked.
Ryder looked to Mack, another mercenary, though this one was less domesticated, and that was putting it lightly. Of the two, Ryder was James Bond, and Mack was, well, Andre the Giant. A monstrous man with a strange affinity for toothpicks. Seriously, I’d never seen him without one dangling from his lip.
“They’re at the office,” Mack said. “They’re going to swing back by later.”
