Page 124 of Nails
“You’re safe now,” he whispered.“I’ve got you.”
Soon, the room filled with the rest of the team, Russell, Ryan, and other agents.But all Nails saw was her.
She was alive.A little shaken up, but alive and still fierce.She was his girl.And anyone who ever tried to touch her again he would kill them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Riley sat in the exam room.She was perched on the edge of the table.Her fingers curled around the edge of the paper sheet beneath her.Her knee bounced with nervous energy, and every footstep or voice outside of the door made her look up, only for the handle to remain untouched.
She exhaled slowly, trying to steady her thoughts and calm her racing heart.But that was nearly impossible considering the nurse had come in just a few minutes ago and told her to wait because the doctor needed to speak with her.
She had no clue what it could be about because when she met with the doctor earlier, he said that the few injuries she had were healing well.And he even gave her the all clear to return to duty, though it was limited, meaning nothing strenuous.That was because of her shoulder.
She still couldn’t believe that it had been two weeks since she had been snatched right off the street and sold at an auction.
But the one moment that will forever be ingrained in her head is when she thought her luck had run out, but then the door to the room slammed open, and Nails stood there with his weapon drawn and his eyes blazing with fury and something deeper—something that wrapped around her like a shield.
Later on, after she had been checked out and they were on their way home, she asked him how they had found her.He grinned that cocky grin of his and said, “AirTag, sweetheart.”But she’d caught that gleam in his eye.That mischievous flicker that drifted south of her face.And all she could think was,“Yep, my tracker may have been hidden in my bra, but I guess it did its job.”Still, beneath the teasing, she’d seen the weight he carried and how close he came to losing her.
The only thing that sucked was that Chen had gotten away.But Riley knew that eventually his luck would run out, just like Adam’s had.
But the one thing that still puzzled her was the mystery woman, whose name, if Riley had heard correctly, was Willamina.If it weren’t for her, the guy who had bought her would have probably raped her.But Riley was determined to find the woman because it sounded like she, too, was a victim in Chen’s web of trafficking.
The past fourteen days hadn’t exactly been restful or peaceful.The second she got stateside, she was pulled into a whirlwind of debriefings, interviews, doctors’ appointments, and psychological evaluations.She spent her time between Washington, D.C., and Quantico.She hadn’t even been to her own house yet.
Every federal agency with a lettered acronym wanted her account of what happened inside that club.They wanted to know everything about everyone she had come into contact with, and everything she had done.They wanted intel.They wanted details.And she gave it, even when it meant reliving the worst days of her life.
Riley shook her head.A soft sigh escaped her lips as she rubbed her tired eyes.Then, like a light cutting through fog, her thoughts shifted to Nails.
Just the thought of him made her heart slow to a steady beat.She hadn’t seen him since they all returned.The debriefings pulled her in one direction while he and the team returned to Virginia Beach for their own debriefings.
But that would soon change.As soon as she finished up at the doctor’s office, she was heading to Virginia Beach.She was going back to him—Nails.
She missed him more than she thought possible.She missed his little smirk, his sarcasm, and his arms wrapped around her at night.She also missed the rest of the team—Bear, Joker, Duke, Playboy, Aussie, Snow, and Jay Bird.They weren’t just the guys she worked with.They were now family to her.
Riley looked down at her hands.She wasn’t the same woman who boarded that plane to Hong Kong three weeks ago.Then she was always known for being focused, guarded, and consumed by the job.Her life had always been about chasing justice and never letting anyone in.But everything had changed.She’d faced danger, betrayal, and the kind of pain she never saw coming.Yet somehow, she wasn’t broken, though a little bruised.She looked at life differently now, not just through the lens of survival, but through the hope of something more.Because for the first time, she wasn’t alone.She was in love with a man who stole her heart when she least expected it and made her realize how much more there was to fight for.
The exam room door creaked open, and she sat up straighter as the doctor stepped inside.He held a folder in his hand and smiled, which hopefully meant that whatever he was about to tell her was good news.
Nails took a sip of his beer as he leaned against the railing of the patio deck at Bayside.He looked out over the water as his thoughts were on Riley.
It had been just two weeks since he and the team had pulled her out of Chen’s “Auction of Horrors.”The memory of that night still haunted him.Even though he and the team had gotten to her in time, there was still a lingering pain in his chest knowing how close they had come to losing her.
Chen’s escape was a wound that Nails hadn’t yet let heal.He hated it.He hated having that loose end hanging over him.But for now, the most important thing was Riley’s safety, her recovery, and the fact that she would soon be back with him, and that he would be able to hold her in his arms again.
Nails ran a hand through his hair.He had texted her earlier, and she replied that she was at the doctor’s and would call him when she finished.He looked at his watch.That had been over two hours ago.He hoped everything was okay.
“So, this is where you slipped off to?”Clover’s voice broke through his thoughts.
He turned to see her walking toward him.Her easy smile lit up her face.
“Yeah.I just needed some fresh air,” he replied, forcing a grin.
She joined him at the railing.“You okay?”
Nails exhaled slowly.“I’m fine.”
Clover raised one of her eyebrows as if knowing he was trying to blow smoke up her ass.But then her gaze softened.“You miss her.”
