Page 19 of Rescuing Rebecca
“Hey. It’s okay.” He pulled her into a one-armed hug. God damn, he wanted to ease her fears. Tell her everything would be fine. Promise there’d be no injuries. No casualties. He couldn’t. No fuck that. He wouldn’t lie to her.
They weren’t dropping in on a fucking tea party, and despite the advance planning and precautions taken, shit happened.
Shit always happened. Nature of their business.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and Jay felt the effort she made to keep her tears at bay. Her chest quaking with every rapid sniff she made.
“Nothing to be sorry for.” He planted a kiss on the top of her head. “Rescuing Rebecca will be a dangerous mission, and I can’t promise you nothing will go wrong, but believe me when I say, the JTT is the best of the best when it comes to what we do.”
“I know.” She squeezed him hard around the middle. “I just wanted to tell you…” She breathed deep and held the air in her lungs, and he knew what she wanted to say because he felt the same way too.
Since the day they’d met, they’d shared a connection. He couldn’t have asked for a better mother for Halia, or a better partner for his best friend. In the short time he’d known her, she’d embedded herself in his life, in his heart, and she’d become the little sister he’d always wanted.
The little sister he’d do anything to protect.
He squeezed her back and said the words she needed to hear. “I love you too, Summer.”
The inside of her lip shredded by her teeth, the taste of iron invaded Becca’s mouth. So much for sparing the face. Roman used to avoid leaving marks in visible areas. Not anymore. Apparently, he had no confidence in her ability to unravel the code on Dominion’s lock, and Alexsandr’s five-day time limit had unleashed the beast.
“What did you do?” he shouted in a rage right before he smashed his fist into her mouth a second time.
Room spinning out of control, she careened into the wall, her shoulder stopping her momentum with a thud. “Nothing,” she spat back, propping herself up with her hands.
“Liar!”
“It’s true. Check the surveillance footage.”
“You know I can’t.” He rushed her, and to avoid being cornered, she spun away on shaky legs, centering herself on the small gym’s sparring mat. “There’s no backup for the computer room’s surveillance system when the power goes down.” He turned to face her. His fists clenched by his sides.
“How the fuck would I know that?” Asshole. She knew. She’d made sure to uncover every vulnerability in the Big Diomede facility before she’d even set foot on the island. Long before she’d led Alexsandr to believe she was Maya and allowed herself to be captured.
“You knew.” He surged toward her, and when he came within reach, she blocked his punch with her left forearm, and using his momentum against him, she countered with a right cross of her own.
The sickening crunch of cartilage stopped his advance.
Then the blood started to gush from his nose.
She couldn’t keep her grin from spreading wide at the sight, and the small split in her lip stung like a mother. Screw him. She may be on the losing end of this fight, but at least she wasn’t the only one bleeding today.
Yeah, Jay had shown her the proper way to throw a punch. How to stand. How to guard her position. How to make a fist. How to rotate her shoulders and hips for maximum power. He’d been a junior boxing champion when she’d met him, and he’d taught her a thing or two back in their university days.
Then after the attack that left her parents dead—and her bleeding out on the kitchen floor—she’d taken some self-defense classes. Too little, too late to help her at the time. Besides, nothing could’ve prepared her for the shock of watching her sister viciously stab her father, and then her mother, killing them both in a bloody rampage.
And woman on a mission, nothing could’ve stopped Maya from thrusting that same ten-inch chef’s blade into Becca’s lower abdomen.
Multiple times.
Caught up in a past that haunted her still, she didn’t move quick enough to elude the kick Roman aimed at her stomach, and the impact dropped her to her knees. Through a pain-filled fog, she watched him wipe the blood off his face with the back of his hand before he attempted to grab her by the hair.
With the flash drive still hidden, she had to duck and cover to avoid discovery. The fire had been the first step in her plan, but she still needed to get back to her computer to initiate the next phase.
As she tried to crawl out of reach, he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, yanking on the damn thing until the stitches ripped and he pulled it off over her head. Not a problem. She wore a workout tank underneath. She always wore a workout tank. The kind with a built-in bra. Made from the type of fabric that acted like a second skin, the Spandex clinging to every curve. Perfect for occasions like this, and ideal for hiding the scars she bore.
Scars Maya had given her, and the only way most people could tell them apart.
“Confess.” Despite the haze of white clouding her vision, she saw Roman’s next kick coming, and protective instincts taking over, she curled into a ball, her arms covering her face and head while she braced for impact.
His booted foot sank into her belly, forcing the air out of her lungs with an audible woosh. “Stop,” she panted, the throbbing pain cracking her open as past and present collided, and her tears welled. “I didn’t do anything.”
