Dax was tracking them as they drove across town, so no fears they’d get away.
The room Colt burst into was black but he could see everything with the NVGs. A man lay immobile on the floor. Angie stood above him, holding a long cylindrical pipe. She raised it as Colt, Ian, and Jace hurtled down the stairs.
“Don’t come near me,” she growled. “Stay away.”
“Angie, it’s me.”
The pipe dropped to her side. “Colt?”
“Yeah, baby. It’s me.”
Angie rushed toward him. He opened his arms and she barreled into them, throwing her arms around him.
“Colt, oh thank god. I fought back this time. I knew you’d come and I fought back.”
He pressed her head to his chest, held her hard to him. His heart pounded and his eyes stung. She was safe. They’d gotten to her in time.
Jace checked the man’s pulse. “He’s alive,” Jace said before flipping him over and cuffing him.
A door at the front of the warehouse opened. Jared, Ty, and Brett sauntered in, weapons at the ready. “All secure,” Jared said. “Nobody else here.”
Colt rubbed Angie’s back. She hadn’t eased her grip on him. “Are you okay, Angie? Did they hurt you?”
She sniffed as she tipped her head to gaze up at him. “One of them hit me. They left me in the dark. I couldn’t see anything, Colt. I was so scared. But I didn’t stop trying to get out.”
Ice flooded Colt’s veins. He wanted to kill these men for hurting her. For scaring her. He wouldn’t, but he damned sure wanted to.
He slung his assault rifle around to the back and picked Angie up. She protested, but he shushed her with a quick kiss.
“You don’t have shoes on, Ang. Or a coat. We’re parked a mile away, so let me carry you.”
They made their way through the warehouse complex, carrying Angie and the man she’d cracked over the head with her pipe. They dumped him into the back of the SUV and Colt got into the middle row with Angie. He held her tightly against his side and didn’t let go for the entire ride back to BDI.
Once there, Colt carried her to the elevator while she lay her head against him and closed her eyes. He could see the purpling of a bruise on her right cheek and rage swelled inside him.
He took her to the fourth floor. Jared went with him. Brett had the man over his shoulder and he took him to a secure interrogation room and locked him in. Ian, Jace, and Ty headed into Annapolis to keep the meeting with Paul Sobol. Dax had traced the McLaren to him. They’d already known he was their man, but now they had confirmation.
Ian and crew would sweep him up with the other man and bring them back here.
Maddy walked out of the suite she’d been waiting in when she heard them coming. When she saw Angie, she closed her eyes and smiled as she lifted her face heavenward. “Thank you, Jesus.”
“Jace will be back soon,” Colt told her. “He’s fine. Just mopping up.”
“Thank you.” She shifted her attention to Angie, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. “How are you, honey?”
“Cold,” Angie said.
Maddy opened the door to the suite so they could pass inside. Then she hurried to the refrigerator and got a bottle of water, retrieved a stack of blankets from a closet, and rushed back to the couch where Colt set Angie down.
Her hair was a mess and her face was bruised, her shirt—his shirt—was torn, and the leggings and socks were streaked with dust and grime.
“What else do you need?” Maddy asked as she shook out a blanket and laid it over Angie. Angie opened her eyes and smiled up at her friend as Maddy shook out another blanket and tucked it around her legs and feet.
“I fought back, Mads. I didn’t cower in the corner.”
Maddy smoothed her hair from her forehead. “Oh honey, of course you fought back. You’re fierce.”
Angie smiled wearily. Colt thought his heart was going to break but he didn’t do anything other than hold her hand while Jared checked her over for broken bones or abrasions. When he’d examined her, Jared exchanged a look with Colt.
Colt swallowed. He knew what Jared was getting at with that look. “Baby,” he said to her.
“Yes, Colt?”
“Did they… they didn’t abuse you, did they?” His throat was tight. Rage hovered beneath the surface. If they’d assaulted her, he would kill them all. He didn’t care how hard a time Ian would have cleaning up the metaphorical mess, nothing would stop him.
Angie smiled, and he knew it was real. Relief rushed through him before she ever spoke a word. “No. That man was trying, but I hit him with the pipe. He never touched me.”
Colt kissed her forehead. “You’re amazing, Ang. I love you so damned much. You have no idea.”
He heard Maddy gasp. Angie’s eyes widened.
Jared stood. “On that note, I think I have some paperwork to fill out. Maddy?”
“Oh, yes. Absolutely. Me too. Let’s go.”
Colt didn’t take his eyes from Angie’s as Jared and Maddy disappeared through the door. He heard the quiet snick as it closed.
“You love me?” Angie asked, her voice filled with wonder.
He tucked her hair behind her ear, skimmed the side of her face that was uninjured. “Yes, I love you. I know it’s fast, and I know you might not feel the same way, but—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence because she surged up and pressed her mouth to his. Their tongues met, tangled, and hot emotion flared in his soul. Angie was his.
“I love you,” she whispered against his mouth. “Love you so much.”
“Je t’aime mon ange. Je t’aime.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Angie was still in a daze when Tallie arrived half an hour later. The daze wasn’t because she’d been kidnapped and held in a pitch black room, or because she’d knocked
