Did Nolan really expect me to get all dressed up? This farce was becoming ridiculous. Yet the only other alternative was the crumpled clothes I’d been wearing for days. My hair felt a tangled mess and my skin was dehydrated. It was going to take considerable effort to just look half decent.
Once Jones left the room and locked the door behind him, I repeated my greeting in Spanish, thankful that I’d learned another language and hoping that the girl would understand me. Maybe, just maybe, and if I was very lucky, Sofia could help me escape this madness.
Excited to see another female, I started asking her all kinds of questions. At the very least, I needed to figure out exactly where we were.
Sofia looked at me with a perplexed expression. She didn’t answer my questions or offer any explanation. Despair crept into my soul. She isn’t going to help me. Either she was linked to one of Nolan’s men or she’d been paid a lot of money for her silence. Or both.
Sinking my head into my hands, I allowed the built-up frustration to run its free course. Sobs shook my body, and I slumped forward where I sat on the edge of the mattress.
Filled with dread and gloom, I wished for a way out of this mess.
A warm hand on my shoulder was the closest thing to comfort I’d felt since being abducted. Shocked, my head snapped up to look at Sofia. She gestured to her ears and made a gargling noise.
Oh my God. No wonder she didn’t answer me.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Sofia rubbed my back. Her small gesture of kindness only made me cry harder. She wasn’t unsympathetic, just unable to communicate in the traditional way.
Trust Jones to thwart thoughts of escape this way. It reminded me to never underestimate him.
Sofia patted my hand and pushed me back against the pillows, then took the basket and went to the adjoining bathroom. I heard water running and soon afterwards the aroma of jasmine filled the air. Funny how such a small thing could lift my spirits. Kindness from a stranger and a hot bath weren’t things I’d usually even register in my busy life or feel such deep gratitude for.
Guess it’s the simple things . . . the things we take for granted that can mean the most.
Sofia appeared in the doorway and gestured for me to come. I rolled off the bed, but as soon as I stood up, dizziness and nausea caused my knees to buckle under me, and I dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.
An animalistic sound emitted from Sofia, and within seconds she was by my side. She stroked my arm gently, a strange mix of anger and confusion on her face. I pointed to the bruises on my arm and the back of my hand where the drip had been inserted. She nodded, understanding and empathy showing in her dark intelligent eyes.
With the support of Sofia, I got up off the floor and slowly made my way to the bathroom. Sofia helped me undress, not even flinching when we got to my naked ass—as if not wearing panties were totally normal.
Sinking under the water, I relaxed my body and leaned against the bath with my eyes closed, just soaking the warmth into my aching bones. I slipped under the water for a few seconds to wet my hair. God, it felt so damn good that for a while I forgot all my worries.
Sofia soaped up a sponge and indicated for me to lift a leg. Besides my mother bathing me as a child, I’d never been washed by a woman, yet it didn’t feel awkward because of the way Sofia just went about it as if it were perfectly normal.
“Oh, Sofia, you have no idea what kind of trouble I’m in, do you?” I said, more to myself than to her. She just smiled at me and kept scrubbing my skin.
As I emerged from the bath, another curt knock on the door startled me. I didn’t want Jones to burst in and see me naked. I grabbed the towel from Sofia and held it in front of me. She swung around when she saw me peering over her shoulder and slammed the bathroom door shut.
A small glimmer of hope that Sofia was on my side sparked inside me. But what good would that be? I couldn’t discuss an escape plan with a girl who couldn’t communicate.
Damn Jones and Nolan. They were smarter than I gave them credit for.
Chapter 36 — Harrison
By some miracle, Savage and I had managed to worm our way onto the aircraft just minutes before departure. The flash of admiration I saw in the captain’s eyes when I told him we’d completed the mission and were ready to fly home, and the fact that they were basically ready for takeoff and didn’t have time to clear our return with head office, was what got us on board.
I took a couple of deep breaths. The smell of hot spicy food made my mouth water, but there wasn’t any chance of getting my hands on it until we were up in the air because the plane was already taxiing down the runway.
No doubt the captain would have some explaining to do when we got back, but I was grateful that he’d used his initiative instead of going strictly by the book. At least something was counting in my favor for once.
We took our seats, and with a click both Savage and I buckled up and closed our eyes, giving our bodies over to sleep. I’d hit empty on all levels and was depleted and totally worn-out.
When I finally woke, the vicious rumbling of my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten in nearly two days.
“Savage, why the fuck didn’t you wake me?”
He sat beside me, digging into his plate of spicy food like a starved man. He grinned at me, his mouth full, as he indicated to a crew member to come over.
“I tried . . . several times. Then I thought the smell may do the trick and wake you.” As soon as the guy reached us, Savage pointed to me. “Get the man some food.”
The guy nodded, and a minute later he returned with a stacked plate of rice and chicken and potatoes. I inhaled the fragrant aroma of cumin and cinnamon and smacked my lips.
“Thanks. I think my stomach is fucking gnawing itself. I could eat a horse.”
I dug in, chomping away as I devoured everything on my plate, not bothering to make conversation and only taking a break from chewing to slurp down a drink. Although the food was basic, it tasted like the best gourmet meal I’d ever had.
Savage belched. “Feeling human again?”
I nodded, took another gulp of my drink, and matched his belch. It was tradition to see who could show his appreciation of the food we’d wolfed down the loudest. I won by a hair’s breadth margin.
It was a small thing, yet it meant something to us. It meant we were alive. We’d survived to live through another day. When you constantly stared death in the face, traditions like ours bonded you in ways few people would understand.
With my stomach full and my body rested, my mind went back to Eva.
“How much longer before we land?”
“Two hours. Just as well—you’re starting to smell bad.”
I laughed. Yeah, a quick hot shower was the first thing I needed. And then I’d burn the fucking clothes I was wearing and start looking for Eva.
*****
I hadn’t spoken to my mom in a couple of weeks and guilt ate at me for not letting her know I was still kicking, but I didn’t have time to explain myself to her. I made a mental note to ask Jade to arrange a family dinner, but no sooner had the thought flashed through my mind when I got distracted by my partner and forgot all about it.
Savage assured me that he could handle the fire coming our way from the powers above. We were in deep shit, but that was nothing new. Somehow we’d get out of it because the fuckers knew we were the best in the game and they needed us.
For the first time since I’d signed up, I was putting myself—my needs and wants—above my job and everyone else. If Eva chose to be with the senator, I wanted to hear it from her own mouth.
But what if Jade was right? What if Eva was in love with me? Could I handle that?
Could she handle it?
I wasn’t worthy of a woman like Eva. She deserved so much better. My darkness was more than most people could bear. Just look what it had done to Jade and her unborn child.