It was the same nightmare she always had. Only this time it had been different. She hadn’t been alone. Javier had been there. When Zainab had tried to take Klara from her, he’d shot her. But when Laura had reached for her newborn baby, the blanket had been empty.
She glanced down at Javier and watched as he stirred, reaching for her in his sleep, his dark lashes resting against his cheeks. He was such a beautiful man, such an incredibly brave man, the most courageous man she knew.
It still hadn’t sunk in. Javier was the nameless, faceless warrior she’d always thought of as the tall SEAL, the man who had saved her life. She looked back and tried to see beyond the night vision optics, the weapons, and the face camo to recognize the man she knew, but couldn’t, her memories colored by confusion, terror, adrenaline. He’d seemed larger than life that night, invincible, he and his men the only force in this world capable of bringing her tormenters down.
She thought through what he’d told her about that night, his perception so different from her own. She’d blamed herself for so long for the fact that Klara was still in the hands of terrorists that she didn’t know any other way of thinking. But listening to him run through the different scenarios of what might have happened—Zainab stabbing her the moment she tried to take Klara . . . the women fighting her for the baby, hurting or maybe even killing her little girl . . . the RPGs blowing the chopper to bits—she’d realized he was seeing things more clearly than she had.
And a dark weight she’d carried for so long seemed to lessen.
She glanced at her clock and saw that it was just after five in the morning. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to sleep, she crept out of bed, slipped into her bathrobe, and made her way to her office, where she sent a quick message to her mother letting her know she needed to talk about something important. She logged on to Skype and waited, popping in her earbuds to keep the conversation from waking Javier.
She told her mother and grandmother the terrible news. They spoke for most of an hour, sharing their tears and their fears for Klara, neither her mother nor her grandmother willing to surrender hope.
That was one reason she loved them so much. As long as she believed, they would believe with her, no matter how bad the odds of finding Klara might be.
“What are you doing awake already,
Her mother and grandmother stopped speaking and stared.
“You might want to step out of the line of the camera.” Laura pointed to the screen and pulled out her earbuds.
Javier’s eyes went wide, and he took a quick step sideways, hiding his bare, shaven man bits behind her chair.
“Javier, this is my mother, Birgitta, and Inga, my grandmother. This is Javier.”
Her mother’s and grandmother’s faces were pressed as near to the computer screen as they could get, and both of them were smiling shamelessly.
Laura found herself fighting laughter.
“Good morning, Javier,” her mother said, switching to English. “We—my mother and I—are very happy to meet you.”
“It’s good to meet you, too, ma’am. Laura has told me a lot about you.”
Then her grandmother spoke, struggling with every word, her Swedish accent strong. “You are a very handsome man, more handsome even than Laura has told me.”
“Uh . . . Thank you, ma’am.”
“I am glad, Javier, that the two of you found each other again,” her mother said. “I was so afraid Laura would be alone. I’m glad she has taken you to her bed.”
“So am I. I mean . . .” Javier looked like he might choke.
Laura bit her lip to keep from laughing, chiding her mother in Swedish. “Mom, you’re embarrassing him!”
“Oh, forgive me, Javier.” Her mother smiled, still amused, her grandmother staring openly at Javier’s bare chest. “We are so open about such things here. I sometimes forget that it is different there.”
“No worries, ma’am.”
Her mother frowned. “Laura tells me you were shot. I see you are bandaged. I hope you are not in pain.”
He pressed a hand against the bandage on his side. “It was just a graze—nine stitches. No big deal.”
“While I have you here, please let me thank you for all you’ve done to keep Laura safe. She is my only child, my mother’s only grandchild.” Birgitta’s voice quavered. “We lost her once. We couldn’t survive losing her again.”
“I’m glad I was able to help. Laura means a lot to me, too. If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go . . . uh . . . put something on.” He turned and walked away.
Laura watched her mother’s and grandmother’s gazes follow him, taking in the sight of his ass as he disappeared from view. When he was gone, Laura turned to face the screen again, laughing. “I can’t believe the two of you!”
But they weren’t listening.
“I think I just had a hot flash,” her grandmother said. “Did you see his prick?”
“How could I miss it?” Her mother gave Laura a knowing smile. “You are a lucky woman to have a man like that.”
LAURA AND JAVIER laughed together over breakfast.
“I don’t think I’ve seen my grandmother that excited since she went on a date with that landscaper. She was seventy-one, and he was in his fifties. She is a very passionate woman. So is my mother.”
“Like mother, like daughter.” Javier grinned. “I’m glad they enjoyed the view. I don’t think I’ve felt that embarrassed since I was a teenager and my mother walked in on me when I was jacking off.”
Laura tried to imagine a teenage Javier caught in the act and couldn’t help but smile. “That would be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”
“I can’t believe how cool your old ladies were. All I know is that if I were talking to my mother and my
That seemed like an old-fashioned notion to Laura. What if she’d been the one taking advantage of Javier? “That’s not what my mother and grandmother had to say.”
“Tell me. What did they say?”
Laura leaned forward, brought her face within inches of his. “They both talked about how big your cock is.”
“Yeah?” Javier grinned, not seeming to mind that at all.
JAVIER LET LAURA work in peace, knowing she had a deadline. McBride had asked him not to leave the building just in case there was anyone else out there who wanted to shoot him, so he went up to the rooftop of The Ironworks for his run, adding crunches, push-ups, and burpees to push himself. With the sun shining and the mountains off to the west, it was a pretty good place to work out.
Afterward, he showered, stuck a large adhesive bandage over his stitches, and went into the guest room to make a few important calls. He’d just finished his last call when his cell phone rang. “Hey, McBride.”
“Agent Petras and I are about to head over. Looks like this Edwards might have been behind all of this. The pieces are definitely coming together.”
“It’s about fucking time.”
“You can say that again. I also wanted to let you know that Tower has been moved out of ICU. He’s off life support and more coherent. I’m stopping by the hospital this afternoon if you want to come. But this time—”
“Yeah, I know. Keep my mouth shut and let
