Page 43 of Rescuing Josiah
Josiah said nothing, merely glared at the man. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chelsea offer up a small smile.
With a nod at the armed muscle, Dr. Gant clearly indicated that they should uncuff him and Chelsea because two of the men pulled out handcuff keys and quickly unlocked them. The second he was free, Josiah grabbed Chelsea and dragged her into his arms.
She was okay, he knew that. Had been by her side the entire time, but he couldn’t believe she was okay until he had her body pressed against his own, her sweet lavender scent invading his nostrils. Alive. Safe. Unharmed.
This had gone even better than he could have hoped for. They hadn't even bothered to rough him up. Other than the threats and being a little handsy, the men had done nothing more than drag them downstairs and cuff them to the chairs.
Lifting one of Chelsea’s hands, he pressed a kiss to her palm, and then to the faint red marks on her wrist. “You okay?”
“I'm okay,” she assured him, a warm smile curling up her lips as she leaned into him, pushed up on her tiptoes, and kissed his lips. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he assured her. Before he could give his attention to the men standing around them, Josiah reached for Chelsea’s other hand. More faint red marks circled that wrist as well, but they would fade quickly.
“Very sweet,” Dr. Gant murmured, and in that moment, Josiah knew they were going to be able to do this.
They had everyone convinced that he and Chelsea were in love. While he was sure no one ever doubted that she could convince anyone she loved him, given that he was pretty sure everyone knew she was in love with him, he was also pretty sure that Prey had been worried about his ability to convince people he was in love with this woman enough to break the law.
He didn't blame them for doubting him, after all, no one knew that he had harbored secret feelings for the bubbly brunette. He’d even done a decent job convincing himself that those feelings didn't exist.
But they did, and they were getting harder to ignore.
“Remove the Kevlar, Mr. Fleet, and both of you get dressed, please. We need to get moving,” Dr. Gant announced, and whenhe looked over, Josiah could see one of the men must have gone back up to the bedroom to retrieve clothing for him and Chelsea.
While he was happy to get dressed, happier still for Chelsea to be able to cover up her body so these men stopped leering at her, there was no way in hell that he was taking off the body armor.
“No,” he said simply, although he reached out and snatched the bundle of clothing from the man’s arms and divided them up, thrusting Chelsea’s at her.
“There is no need for the vest, Mr. Fleet, no one is going to harm you or your lovely wife,” Dr. Gant assured him.
“The Kevlar stays on,” he said firmly as he shoved his legs into the jeans and did up the zipper.
“Please,” Chelsea added as she began to get dressed. “The vest doesn’t have anything to do with this. He just needs it. He has PTSD after almost dying while he was still an active-duty SEAL, he needs to wear it.”
“I will kill anyone who tries to take it off me,” he warned. And Josiah was pretty sure he would. While he would never consciously do anything that would put Chelsea’s life in any more danger than it was already in, taking off the vest would end his ability to form conscious thoughts.
The vest stayed on.
Always.
For six years now.
It wasn't coming off for any reason.
For a moment it looked like Dr. Gant was going to push the point, and Josiah tensed, ready to spring into action if he needed to. He also cast a glance at where he knew one of the cameras was, ensuring that Alpha Team, who now knew about his need to remain in Kevlar constantly, that he was serious about fighting to the death over this.
But then the doctor nodded. “Fine. Although we do have psychiatrists on staff, if you would like to discuss the issue with a professional. They’re usually there to work with our transplant recipients, but I'm sure one of them would be happy to talk with you.”
No way in hell was he discussing this with anyone.
If he wanted to work through the issue, he would have talked with Piper Hamilton-Eden, Prey’s long-time on-staff psychologist, or Prey’s newest psychologist, Susanna Zangari.
Pleased the issue was settled, he threw on the T-shirt, then shoved his feet into sneakers, while Chelsea finished putting on her own jeans and T-shirt. Once they were both dressed, Dr. Gant shot them a mildly apologetic smile as he held up two blindfolds.
“I'm sorry, but I'm sure you can understand our need to consider the safety of all our patients. We don’t want anyone to know where our facility is since we step outside the bounds of the law to save lives,” Dr. Gant told them. The doctor could put a good spin on it all he wanted, but while yes, he was sure the trafficking ring saved lives, it was also responsible for the deaths of hundreds, possibly even thousands of innocent men and women.
Wearing the blindfold wouldn't be ideal, but he didn't believe these men were going to do anything to harm Chelsea, so he didn't need to see what was happening around him. Besides, he could kill without needing to see anyway. If he had been able to see, Josiah would have taken note of their route, but both he and Chelsea were wearing the same trackers that Teresa had invented that had saved her life when she was abducted the second time by the trafficking ring.
When the time was right, Prey would know exactly where they were.
