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“I love you, baby,” I murmur. “I was scared, too. My whole world stopped the moment I knew you’d been taken. I can’t lose you, Marley.” Her lips graze my left cheek then my right as if she’s trying to kiss my tears away. She leans back to meet my eyes.
“I love you, too, Luke,” she declares. “I can’t lose you either.When I look at you, I’m so overcome with emotions. Sometimes it hurts, but in the best way. I don’t know how I’ve lived my life without you all these years. Now that I’ve found you, I need you more than air.” I grin at her because I know exactly how she feels.
“Let’s get you checked out.” I begin to wheel back toward the ambulance. Ace and Daisy are still arguing about her going to the hospital. I attempt to talk some sense into her, but she isn’t listening to anyone but herself. “Daisy, just let them check you out. It’ll make us all feel better,” I chide, hoping to get her to see reason.
“I am fine. I think I would know if I had a significant head injury,” Daisy grumbles at the alpha men glaring at her. “I will be seen once we are back at home.” I shake my head, knowing she’s dug her heels in, and there’s no changing her mind. Poor Ace is in for a lifetime of trouble, but I’m not going to be the one to let him in on that little secret. He seems to really love my sister, so I’m not about to say or do anything that might hinder the relationship.
“Well, if you aren’t going to let them transport you to the hospital,” I growl back at her, “get out of the way so Marley can be seen. At least I know she’ll be sensible about this.” I should have kept my mouth shut.
“I don’t need to be seen,” Marley protests when I urge her to get out of my lap and into the ambulance. “Really, Luke, I’m fine. I just want to go home.” The pleading in her voice tugs on my heartstrings, but I won’t compromise on this. I want her checked out, make sure there aren’t any broken bones or possible infections that might be starting.
“Please don’t fight me on this,” I plead with Marley. “I need to know you are healthy.” She glares at me, but she slides out of my lap to climb into the back of the ambulance. She lets them look her over, checking vitals and feeling for broken ribs. They clean the blood off her face as best they can before cleaning and dressing the open areas.They give her an ice pack for the swelling and discoloration around her eyes. The man lifts the hem of her shirt revealing bruising across her abdomen. My eyes widen at the site. He gently prods her abdomen causing her to wince, but she doesn’t cry out in pain.
“I don’t think you have any broken bones,” the paramedic informs her, “or internal injuries, but I can’t know for sure unless you go to the ER and let them get some x-rays.”
“Thank you for your help.” Marley smiles at the man causing a brief moment of jealousy to rear its ugly head. “But I’m certain that I don’t have any broken bones. I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
“Baby girl,” I begin. Her head whips in my direction, and I can tell by the look on her face she isn’t going to like what I have to say. “Please let them take you to see a doctor.” She’s immediately shaking her head.
“I don’t need to see a doctor. Please, Luke, just take me home?” I know I won’t be able to convince her to do my bidding, so I relent. She leaps down from the back of the ambulance and follows me to my vehicle. She climbs into the passenger seat. Hawk strolls over as I make my way around to the driver’s side. We remain outside the vehicle while we talk.
“She going to be okay?” He nods in Marley’s direction.
“Yes.” I smile despite the situation. “She’s one tough woman.” Hawk gives me a knowing look. “You guys are welcome to come to the house. I have extra rooms for anyone wanting to spend the night. I know it’s getting late.”
“Thanks,” Hawk answers. “We will likely take you up on the hospitality. The FBI wants to interview Marley and Daisy in the morning. It seems they’ve been investigating these men for a while. They aren’t happy the men are dead.”
“It’s too damn bad,” I snarl, angry that the FBI is involved at all. The bureau has gotten way to focused on their image and their bottom line, for my taste, in recent years. This isn’t the firsttime my company has had to deal with them. “Daisy had every right to end those fuckers.”
“I agree,” Hawk says. “However it doesn’t keep the feds off our backs. I told them the women wouldn’t be available for an interview until in the morning. I’m sorry, but it’s the best I could manage.”
“I understand,” I agree. “I don’t like it, but I understand. See you at the house.” Hawk shakes my hand as I turn to my truck. I need to get Marley home. She’s likely in shock over everything that’s happened. I know we will have to talk about what’s happened with the team before the meeting with the feds, but all I really what to do is get her home and in my arms for the foreseeable future.
Marley is quiet on the drive home. She stares out the window as the night passes us by. I know she’s been through a lot. A beating maybe the least of our worries, because I don’t know what all has happened to her since she was taken. Did they touch her? Rape her? She hasn’t been very forth coming other than to say she’s okay.
I want to ask her what happened, but I also fear the answer. I want to know what she’s thinking, but then again, I’m afraid of that answer, too. Can I handle hearing her say she made a mistake trusting me to take care of her? I know she said it wasn’t my fault earlier, but she’d just been freed. She hasn’t had time to process everything. Is that what she’s doing now? Realizing how inadequate I am at taking care of her?
Finally, we pull into the garage. I kill the engine, but I don’t move to get out. Marley’s still staring out the window not even recognizing we have made it home. I reach for her. She jumps in surprise at my touch.
“Shit!” Marley exclaims. “I guess I zoned out there for a bit. I didn’t realize we made it home.” I cup my right hand to her face. She leans into my touch, and that bolsters my confidence to ask the questions that are weighing so heavily on my mind.
“Marley.” My voice cracks. I clear my throat and take a deep breath. “What did those men do to you? Did they…did they touch you? Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the hospital?” Her eyes are wide as she stares at me. I brace for the worst but hope for the best.
MARLEY
Izoned out on the drive home. My mind replaying Daisy killing those men over and over in my head. I should be freaked the hell out. I should feel sorry for the loss of life, some remorse for the role I played in their deaths, but I don’t. I can’t manage to muster any regret. I don’t feel anything.What kind of person does that make me?I wonder as I feel the warm spray of blood hitting my face in my mind. All I felt in that moment was intense relief that the men were dead, that they couldn’t hurt me anymore.
When Daisy’s boyfriend and his friends had shown up, I’d been terrified, thinking our captors had friends, and we were about to be murdered. It didn’t take long to comprehend they were here to rescue us. Not that we needed it after Daisy had taken care of the men. I shudder, seeing the same scene playing over and over again. A hand on my arm startles me. I jump and pull away on instinct as if those men have returned from the dead to take me prisoner again. I turn to see Luke looking at me with concern. He’s been as quiet on the ride home as I’ve been. I can see he still feels guilty over my abduction, but he has nothingto feel guilty about. We had no way of knowing that was going to happen. The words that come out of his mouth are not at all what I’m expecting him to say.
“What?” I query with my eyebrows raised high. “You think they raped me?” He swallows hard but keeps eye contact with me.
“Whatever happened doesn’t change what we have, Marley,” Luke says softly. “I just need to know so I can help you recover and get past this.” Again, he looks guilty. I’m hit once again how much I love this man. I’ve been obsessed with him for months, but after the last few weeks we’ve been together as a couple, I know he’s the only man for me. I can feel my expression soften.
“Luke, I wasn’t raped. They didn’t touch me like that.” I see the relief on his face. I know that even if I had been, he wouldn’t feel differently about me, but he’s relieved I didn’t have to endure such a trauma. “The man that took me from Jay’s hit me…repeatedly, but that was the worst of it. I think Daisy showing up actually saved me from a worse beating. He seemed to lose some steam after she was knocked out. I thought they’d kill her,” I whisper as the feelings I’d felt in the moment come over me again. Tears well up, once more. “All I could think was how much you would hate me for getting her involved in all this mess.” I sob as it all comes crashing down over me.
“Baby, I could never hate you. You didn’t get her into to this. I did that.” Luke looks out the windshield thoughtfully, holding my hand tightly. “Daisy is a grown woman. She makes her own decisions and always has. I have never been able to make her do anything she didn’t want to do or to keep her from doing something she shouldn’t.” Luke chuckles at a moment of reflection. “A team of Special Ops Marines couldn’t have kept her from going in to get you when she saw you were in trouble.” I stare at him wide-eyed before I laugh at his metaphor. He joins in my laughter.
“I think there’s one Special Ops Marine that could havesidelined her.” I grin at him. “Daisy is really smitten with her man.” Luke gags but grins back at me.
