Page 92 of The Team

Yin looked at her hair and ran his fingers through it. “You’re still beautiful.”

That just made her cry some more.

Jay went to her. “We need to move. Can you walk? Are you injured?”

She nodded. “I can walk.” She pulled back the covers, showing she was wearing her nurse scrub pants and a T-shirt. Yin pulled the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her, helping her stand.

Jay pressed his comms. “We have her. On our way up to you now.”

“Roger that,” Rhett replied. “Make it quick. Military incoming, and we need to be gone.”

Yin bundled Jun-mei up with the blanket and kept his arm around her. Jay led the way, escorting Wong’s sister up to the living room. She went to her brother, who was on his knees with his hands zip-tied behind his back.

Rhett paused only for a moment when he saw Yin with Jun-mei, and Jay saw the briefest flicker of Rhett as his gaze softened beforeCaptainwas back. “To the boat. Now. We’re about to have company.”

And sure enough, before they could get to the terrace doors, a team of Chinese soldiers in full tactical gear—special police force, Sea Dragons, Jay wasn’t sure. They weren’t wearing any identifiable tags.

But then again, neither was Milvus.

They swarmed into the house, focusing on Wong and his sister, like none of the Milvus team were even there.

Completely ignored.

Not important to their mission.

Or acting as if Milvus were never there.

If any of them recognised Yin or Chen, they never showed it.

Rhett led their team through the grounds, silent andwithout incident, down to their dinghy. They boarded, pushed off the shore, and set off into the dark night to the waiting boat.

The water was inky black, the air and sea spray mist cold and damp. Yin kept the blanket around Jun-mei, holding her tight and rubbing her arm, her back, kissing the top of her head. Jay found himself smiling at them, and when he looked at Rhett, Rhett’s eyes met his, and he smiled.

SEVENTEEN

The team wasquiet on the boat and even in the vans on the way back to Dachang military base, and Rhett didn’t blame them.

Jay sat beside him, their sides touching from boots to shoulders, and that warmth, that presence, was exactly what he needed. He needed Jay in ways he couldn’t explain.

As heartwarming as it was, Rhett found it hard to watch Yin and Jun-mei. Rhett figured everyone felt the same. It felt as if this reunion between them should have been private. Yin was vulnerable, exposed, and emotional. It was hard to watch.

And Jun-mei. Her tear-streaked face, blotchy and puffy from crying, was mostly hidden by the blanket as she slept with her head on Yin’s shoulder. He held her tight, brushing his lips to the top of her head every so often.

Those bastards had hacked her hair off.

And Yin and Chen had just found out their own government had ordered the explosion in South Sudan.They’d marked Yin as collateral, wanting him dead so the mess was easier to clean up.

Except he hadn’t died. Chen had saved him, and by some stroke of luck or fate, they’d discovered he was immune to the pathogen.

And then he’d met Jun-mei.

Motherfuckers used her as bait to get Yin back.

Rhett was glad Tan and Frankston were dead. And he was glad Yin had made him suffer before Rhett ended his misery.

Because honestly, fuck them.

Fuck them all.

---