Page 71 of Jacqueline's Quest

“And if I did?” Jaqueline nuzzled his neck before nipping the sensitive skin. “Can you get it back up?”

The corner of his mouth kicked upward. “Definitely.”

“Prove it.”

Darkness surrounded them as they stepped off the plane. The abandoned airstrip didn’t make sense to Jaqueline. Why were they out in the middle of nowhere? She glanced at Murray who stepped forward when Asher met them. Beside him was Noah and another man who didn’t appear to be a member of the team, and one other who eyed her suspiciously. She took Christian’s hand and walked down the ramp with him and Bebito while AJ and Thomas helped ease Scotty out of the plane. Hannah took a few tentative steps before using the cane someone had given her at the hospital to make the trek the rest of the way out of the plane easier for her. Since they picked up Christian and Hannah at the hospital, Murray’s sister had been walking more. The doctors didn’t know how to explain it, other than sometimes movement came back and sometimes it doesn’t. Hannah happened to be one of the rare ones, even though it’d been ten years.

“Welcome to Virginia Beach,” Asher said then glanced at Hannah. “Welcome back home.”

The woman smiled. “Good to be back.” One of the crewmen from the plane brought Hannah’s wheelchair to her and she sat with a sigh. “Who knew learning to walk again could take a lot out of you.”

“We have some of the most state of the art rehabilitation equipment in the base. We also have a doctor on staff along with a medic. You are more than welcome to use it,” Asher replied. “Though I have a feeling you’re going to want to be topside more often than not.”

"The fresh air is amazing to breathe," Hannah agreed. "However, I will take you up on the offer."

“We’ll get you with Rae then. I’m sure you’ll be besties before the end of the week.” Asher smirked. “Damned woman is getting her wish.”

“Rae giving you shit again?” Murray asked.

"Oh, you have no idea. The woman is making her clique. So far, it's her, Sydney, and Mateo. With Hannah and I'm guessing AJ and Jaqueline, well..." Asher rolled his eyes.

Murray laughed. “You got what you wanted, right?”

Jaqueline tilted her head. “What did he want?”

“A family,” Murray said. “Asher built this place for all of us. For our families.”

She still didn’t understand. “I’m not seeing it.”

Asher motioned them forward. “I’ll show you.”

He brought them over to a door then pointed to the pad off to the side. “Place your hand there, please.”

She glanced back at Murray who nodded. "O-okay." She did as Asher said and waited. The screen lit up as it scanned her palm. Her name along with a basic rundown of who she was, ran vertically across the screen before beeping. A lock disengaged then a second as the doors opened one at a time. "Aye dios mio."

Christian came up beside her and pointed to it then signed,cool.Vamos.

She motioned for Christian to enter first. “Andele.” He glanced back at her and grinned before following Asher into the annex room of sorts.

Beside her, Murray explained everything to Hannah. “Don’t worry, there’s an elevator and when you’re ready, we’ll find a new home. I promise.”

Hannah waved Murray off. “I think I want to see where my big brother spent most of his time. Then I want to go home. A night in any bed other than the one Raul gave me, would be magical.” She sighed as she rolled through the door.

Jaqueline stared after her family. It was crazy to think of them as her family, but they were. Ever since her parents passed away, there’d been a hole in her heart she couldn’t fill no matter how much she tried. Now, with Murray, Hannah, and Christian by her side, she could begin to heal.

Murray slipped his hand into hers and squeezed. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” she murmured. “So, this place huh?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Interesting. Not your ranch though.”

No, it’d never be her ranch, but after everything they’d been through a change of scenery wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would give Christian a chance to heal and experience new things. It also gave her and Murray time to explore their relationship as well—not that they couldn’t in Mexico, but this was different. They didn’t have to be on their toes the whole time. “It’s okay. I can sleep in a little bit now.”

He chuckled. “I doubt it.”

“Me too.” The doors closed on the elevator and they descended into the base. “So where are we going first?”

“Hospital wing,” Asher said. “We should give Scotty a few more days of healing before he gets back to work.”

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