Page 33 of Saved By the SEAL

“What’s happening here?” I murmur as I sidle in closer to Jordan. My God, he still smells as wonderful as he always did. My imagination is pretty wonderful when it comes to bringing up the only man I’ve ever truly cared about. “This is magic.”

“We’ll talk when we get back to my place.” Jordan’s voice is stiff, but his touch is soft and caring. Just as it was when he insisted on checking me over for tracking devices instead of Landon. “Then we can clear the air about everything.”

Even if I’m dead or just in my happy place to escape Alexander and Katya, at least I’m with Jordan. Everything feels absolutely wonderful because I’m with him. I honestly don’t feel like anything could harm me right now. I even feel comfortable enough to allow my eyes to slide closed and the weariness toovercome me for a little while. My brain is exhausted, my body even more so. I need to just shut down for a little while, even if I don’t really want to miss a moment with Jordan.

“I still don’t know about this,” the other man, I think Jordan called him Landon, declares I guess the moment he thinks I’ve crashed out. “I know your memory says differently, but everyone thinks Michelle shot you. Are you sure you can trust her?”

I stiffen because I know this answer means everything. Max’s not trusting me makes sense because even with our bond, the way that Alexander and Katya can manipulate things is ridiculous. But Jordan should know me on a different level. If he thinks that after everything we went through, I would pull a trigger and try to kill him, then everything will shift in a bad way.

“I trust her.” Jordan pulls me a little closer. “I know it was Kate who shot me. Michelle is a victim in this.”

Urgh, ‘Kate’ got to Jordan with her bullshit lies. I absolutely hate her and would love nothing more than to never see that bitch again. I don’t want to see any of them for the rest of my life, and not just because I’ll end up dead. I was swimming along, thinking that my life was amazing and everything was going to be just fine. I should have known that Alexander wouldn’t allow that to happen. Just as he isn’t going to like the way that I walked out on them so easily. My God, they will be fuming. And all because they couldn’t keep their hands off one another for a few moments to make a plan…

“Michelle.” I must have actually fallen asleep by accident because soon, Jordan is shaking me awake. “We’re here.”

I’m bleary-eyed and a little confused as I stagger out of the car, but Jordan holds my hand and leads me inside. Landon comeswith us, but I feel now like he might be trying to blend into the background rather than intimidate me. Poor guy, he probably has no real idea what he’s walked into here. It’s a shit show and he should run now if he can…

“I’m going to make some coffees,” Landon declares tactfully once we get inside. “So, I’m here if you need me, but I feel like you guys might be needing a private conversation on your own. There’s clearly a lot to sort out here.”

“Thank you.” Jordan pats him on the shoulder. “We’ll be fine in here. But I appreciate it.” As soon as Landon is gone, he turns to me. “Landon is my protection at the moment. Max is really worried because I got shot. But I’m okay, as you can see.”

“You survived the shooting. I’m so happy.” Tears erupt from my eyes, but this time they are happy ones. “Katya told me that she killed you, and I really felt like it was the end of my life. I never wanted anything bad to happen to you.”

“Katya is Kate?” I nod. “Right, I see. So, she was lying about everything that she told me… or some of it, anyway.”

He gives me a pointed look which makes me anxious. I haven’t exactly spilled the beans about everything, even to Max. I didn’t want to make this a more dangerous situation than it already was, but now my days of locking myself away seem to be over. I hang my head low and suck in a few deep breaths, trying to prepare myself for what comes next. To be truthful, finally.

“I don’t know exactly what she told you, but I’ll tell you everything now. I wasn’t keeping things from you on purpose.”

“That doesn’t matter.” His arms fold defensively across his chest. “You need to be honest with me now. It’s hard enough to protect someone, but when you’re trying to do it without all theinformation, it becomes impossible. A lot of what happened here could have been avoided if we knew everything. I wouldn’t have been distracted so you couldn’t have been taken.”

There’s a kindness to his tone even if he is being a bit firm with me, and to be honest, I do understand. I’m to blame for a lot of what went down because I kept parts of my life away. But just because they are in Russia, it doesn’t mean they can’t get me here. If the last couple of days have taught me anything, it’s that. I need to find a way to be honest at last.

“My father works for the Russian government. I don’t know if you are aware of that yet?” He doesn’t look shocked, so Katya has obviously worked that one in. I bet she made it sound really bad on my behalf, too. Fucking hell, this is why you don’t let other people control your narrative. I get that now. “Well, he worked hard and eventually moved his way up through the ranks. Only, he wasn’t happy. He discovered corruption in certain departments, which doesn’t work with his morals at all. He has strong beliefs in the way that things should be done, and that involves following the rules at all times.”

I can’t look at Jordan. This is all dragging up so many painful memories, I can hardly breathe under the pressure of them. I take a few moments to gather myself, during which time Landon brings in coffees but makes his escape from the thick tension just as rapidly. I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t mind making an escape either if I could.

“So, my father tried to sort things out,” I eventually continue. “He attempted to get things on the right path but couldn’t do it. No one would listen to him, so then he made the mistake of threatening to expose the corruption, which is when… which is when…” My God, I can hardly breathe. This is agonizing. “Which is when my mother died. They killed her, I’m sure of it.”

“Oh, no. I’m so sorry.” Jordan slides closer to me and rests his hand reassuringly on my back. “That’s horrible. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like for you. For that to happen because your dad wanted to do the right thing…”

“Well, it wasn’t enough,” I growl back. “It wasn’t enough of a punishment, apparently. They didn’t think that would make him step in line, so they turned their attention to me and my brother instead. They forced my brother into a dangerous military position, so we don’t even know whether he’s still alive or not. He’s been out of contact for years, and they brought me into the spy business. My father tried to stop it because he knew that would be dangerous and would send me to America, but he had lost all his power by that point. Now, he’s just a figurehead, basically, who has to do what is told of him.”

I break down because it’s so much to take in, and Jordan envelopes me in his arms. At least I have this reminder that I’m not alone anymore. That’s all my father asked for me when he knew that I was being sent away. He wanted me to escape and to find happiness because he hates the idea that he’s ruined my life. I still want to do that for him. I want nothing more than to be able to make my dad proud and to see that he didn’t do the wrong thing, even if it’ll always feel like it.

He might never get to see me living my new life, but I have a feeling that deep down, he’ll sense it. He’ll know. I’m the last one of us who has a chance, unless my brother somehow escapes the military, but I don’t know if that’s even possible, so I have to do it for everyone. I owe it to all of them to at least give life a try, don’t I? Especially if Jordan wants me.

“Oh!” I suddenly remember another awful part of what happened in Russia. “There was also a weird wedding ceremony in Russia a little while before I came here. They staged aceremony between me and a Russian noble who’s well known for being abusive and a playboy. No paperwork was signed, so nothing could be legitimate. It was just to show Dad that they can do anything and he has no control over his family anymore. It was utter bullshit. I got away before anything could happen between me and that gross man. It was all just a sham that didn’t matter anyway.” I shudder. “But it was awful.”

“That sounds awful,” he concedes. “And messy too. But how did you manage to get away this time around?”

“I was sent to do a job, to seduce a man and steal some documents. Luckily, no seduction needed to take place and I didn’t even take all the right documents.” God, that was a risk, but a good one, I believe. “I took enough for Alexander to believe that I’d done it, but I left all the really sensitive information behind. Alexander and Katya… I think because they kept threatening to have my father killed, they thought that I wouldn’t try anything. They got sloppy, and I ran. But they might come after me and my dad… he really could be in danger, too.” Everything tightens inside me. I haven’t really considered what might have happened to my father until now, but it hurts. He wants to protect me, and I want to protect him right back, but it’s so challenging from other ends of the fucking world. “I don’t know what’s going to happen next, and I’m really scared, Jordan.”

“We need to see Max,” he replies defiantly. “Max will know what to do. He’ll fix everything that he can. You know what he’s like, a freaking expert in all this stuff. I’ll call Landon now and I’ll get us to the office. We can figure things out from there.”

I’m nervous as all hell. But then I have a lot of reasons to be anxious right now, a lot of lives on the line. But I’m ready to take action to do whatever needs to be done. I didn’t risk everythingjust to fall at the first hurdle now. I need to pick myself up and keep on fighting until the very end… whatever that might be.

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