“We’ll figure it out.”
He stood up and walked over to my laptop. “Buying tickets to Afghanistan while naked. This is new for me,” he said.
I laughed and got out of bed. Exhaustion still racked my body, but something felt unfinished. My story would tarnish his reputation, but knowing that he still agreed to let me use his name—to me, that said love more than words alone ever could.
“There,” he said, spinning around. “We have two coach tickets leaving tonight at six p.m.”
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Exactly.”
“Should I stay up and sleep on the long flight or crash now?”
He shrugged. “It’s your call.”
He walked over, putting his hands on my shoulders before moving them to my waist, holding tight as his lips pressed against mine.
I pulled back. “You need to brush your teeth. And a shower wouldn’t hurt.”
“Join me?” he said, running his hands along my hips.
“On second thought, I’m pretty tired. Plus, we will need something to occupy our time on the long flight over.” I smirked.
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“Mile high club.” I took his hand in mine and led him back to the bed.
We were soon laying side by side, still holding hands as sleep overtook us both.
My dreams were filled with mountain ranges and strange people speaking an unknown Afghan dialect.
No matter what happened on our crazy, last minute adventure, I would stay by his side. We had each other, and at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.
CHAPTER 39
Warren
Rose and I landed at the Kandahar airport in one piece. I had sent word to a few contacts I still had in the country, so a Land Rover waited outside, ready to take us to Samangan.
The man riding shotgun smelled of goats and sour cheese, but looked tough enough to protect us. I had spent a lot of money setting up this trip to be sure nothing would happen to us.
I glanced over at Rose, sitting beside me in the back of the vehicle. She was looking out the window at the landscape as the sun rose in the distance.
Arabic music flowed from the speakers as the driver and his security guard yapped back and forth about the best way to dig a well.
“We have to be ready for anything,” I said and then paused. “You…You shouldn’t have come.”
Rose turned to face me, her eyes red with bags under them. “The man contacted me, not you. Plus, I want to be here. You couldn’t have stopped me.”
I sighed. “Well, this will all be over soon and we’ll be able to put it all behind us and get on with our lives.”
As I watched her smile weakly, I realized how much I loved her. It was as if we were made for each other.
“I can’t think of a better plan,” she said.
“We should arrive early enough to scope the place out before it gets too packed. Are you sure you remember where his booth was in the market?”
“It’s been so long. My memories are a little hazy, but I think so.”
“Good.” I turned to the passenger up front. “I need the gun.”
He twisted around, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Do it. He’s been vetted,” the driver said in English.
The other man reached into the glove box and pulled out a revolver old enough to be in a museum.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “This isn’t what we agreed I would be getting. I’ll need more firepower than this if this turns out to be a trap.”
“That what you pay, that what you get,” the driver said.
Meanwhile, the passenger stared at me menacingly.
“It’s okay,” Rose said. “We’ll be fine.”
I wanted to call her out for being so naïve, but held my tongue in front of the strangers.
Our escorts resumed arguing amongst themselves as we bounced around in the backseat. Outside, the unforgiving Afghanistan landscape stretched into the horizon.
Coming back to the war-torn country was stupid in so many ways, but if we wanted any chance of a future together, it was necessary.
* * *
At the outskirts of Samangan, the so-called escort specialists dropped us off and zoomed away, leaving a cloud of dust rising in their wake.
“Fucking assholes,” Rose said, wiping off her baggy white blouse and jeans.
“I’m sorry. It’s the best I could get on such short notice. We’re here now. Let’s find out what this old man claims to know.”
“Thanks for supporting me with this,” she said.
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s you and me. We’re in this for the long haul.”
“I’d kiss you, but my lips are full of sand and dirt.”
I smiled, squeezing her arm briefly. “Let’s do this.”
We walked side-by-side into the city which had only begun to awaken. Everyone who saw us stared. I gripped Rose’s hand tightly, increasing our pace.
At the center of the city, we arrived at the market, already bustling with vendors setting up shop and locals arriving for early bird specials and the freshest produce.
“It’s this way,” she said, leading me toward the left side of the plaza. She stopped a few stalls down.
We both peered inside, seeing nothing.
“Where is he?” she muttered.
I had already turned to glance around the plaza.
“What the hell?” she said.
“I told you it was a trap.” I scanned the crowd, which was steadily increasing in size. “There…”
Rose’s gaze followed my finger as I pointed across the market. “Isn’t that Melvin?”
“Yeah. I should’ve known he was behind this,” I said through clenched teeth.
“What are we going to do?” she asked, holding onto my arm.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get us out here.”
“I’m sorry, Warren…”
“It’s not your fault,” I reassured her. “But you need to keep it together now, okay?”
She nodded.
“Let’s go this way,” I said, taking her hand.
We only made it a few steps before two Afghan men with AK-47’s stepped out from an alley and pointed their weapons at us. I pushed Rose to the side, sliding in front of her in case they shot.
I stared into their eyes, knowing they were hardened mercenaries and didn’t give a fuck about anything, let alone me or Rose.
Think fast, I told myself, weighing all our options.
The only way out would be to overpower them, but if I tried, they would likely shoot Rose. She had no training and would be a liability if we tried to run.
Our only other choice was to cooperate and hope for the best.
“You come with us,” one man barked, moving his assault weapon erratically.
“Do what he says,” I whispered to Rose. “Stay calm. We’ll get through this.”
She said nothing as the men led us to a waiting van around the corner and put hoods over our heads.
Why the hell had I agree to come back and put both of us in danger?
I had no answers to my simple questions, let alone the more difficult ones.
* * *
As soon as the hood came off, I realized they had taken Rose somewhere else.
“Where is she?” I yelled.
Unseen hands pushed me, sending me almost falling to the dirt floor.
Were we in a fucking cave?
“Settle down, Warren,” Melvin said as he emerged from the darkness.
A half-dozen other men, all heavily armed, formed a circle around me. Yet, regardless of the strong and intimidating men surrounding me, my thoughts were solely on Rose and her safety.
Where was she?
Melvin laughed. “What? You’ve got nothing to say?”
“Where’s Rose?” I asked, glaring at him.
“That bitch is fine.”
I lunged toward him. He pulled out a stun-gun and hit me with at least fifty-thousand volt
s, sending me to the ground. He laughed again as I writhed in pain.
“Where is she?” I yelled furiously, slowly climbing back to my feet.
“You don’t need to worry about that bitch,” Melvin said, staring at me with his lifeless eyes.
I shook my head. “Why are you doing this?”
“Why not?” he said with a chuckle. “You could have been on the winning side of this, but you had to be a punk-ass and drop out. We were going to let you go until that bitch published her story.”
“You were behind the Afghani calling her?”
“Wow. You really are dense, aren’t you?” He shoved the stun-gun forward and pressed the button, causing me to flinch. A round of laughter filled the cavern.
Think, Warren, a voice in my head urged. It’s sink or swim time. You have to save her…
“You should have either stuck with us, or kept your mouth shut. Now you’ll pay.” Melvin paused before barking an order. “Bring the woman in here.”
I watched in horror as Rose was dragged kicking and screaming into the cavern.
“Leave her alone!” I said, rushing over. They shoved her to the floor. I went down on my knees next to her. “Are you okay?”
“They drugged me,” she said, her speech slurred.
I stood and faced Melvin. “What the fuck did you do?”
He grinned.
I bolted forward, hoping I could at least knock him over before he stunned me again. But as I approached, gunshots rang out somewhere deeper in the cave, followed by an explosion. Unable to stop myself, I changed directions, running into one of the surprised men wearing long white robes. I punched him in the face and grabbed his AK-47.
The rest of the cavern erupted in chaos. I didn’t see Melvin, but most of the other men were running toward the sound of the explosion.
When I saw Rose curled up in a fetal position, I rushed forward, intent on protecting her. The others had all left by the time I reached her. I crouched down with the AK slung over my shoulder. “Are you okay?” I asked, holding her head.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know, but I’m getting you out of here. Can you walk?”
She shook her head.
“What the hell did they give you?” I muttered. “Never mind. I’m going to carry you.”
I picked her up and surveyed my options.
More gunshots rang out in the distance, and then there was silence. Hoping I didn’t have to drop her to get my gun, I headed in the opposite direction. A few hundred feet later, I saw sunlight from the entrance of the cave.
“Just a little longer. Hang on,” I said, more to myself than her.
She looked up at me, oblivious to the severity of the situation.
“I’ll leave you here,” I said. “I need to see where we are and if anyone’s outside the cave.”
“You’re leaving me?” she said, her speech slurred.
I set her down on the floor and grabbed the AK-47, pointing it toward the sunlight.
“Hold on, I’m a friend,” someone yelled behind me.
I spun around, ready to shoot, but I held off as I saw a man with his hands raised in the air.
“I’m here to help,” he said, taking a step forward.
“Watch it,” I said, raising the gun.
“Dad?” Rose said, sitting up.
“Are you okay, dear?” the man asked, walking toward her.
“I said hold it,” I shouted. “She’s been drugged. How do I know I can trust you?”
“You don’t, son. But if I were you, I’d lower the weapon.”
He nodded toward the entrance of the cave. I turned and saw a half-dozen U.S. Marines with their weapons pointed at me. I lowered the assault weapon immediately.
“It’s okay,” the man said.
I turned and saw he had reached Rose.
“I’m in the CIA,” he explained while bending to check on Rose. “Come and help, will you?”
“Dad?” she said, giggling. “Kim was right for once!”
I walked over and picked Rose back up. Outside, a helicopter waited to take us away.
As soon as we were in the air, I turned to her father. “How did you know?”
“I told you, I’m in the CIA. We know everything.”
Rose sat next to him with her head resting on his shoulder.
We were so lucky to have made it out of the obvious trap I had led us into. Hate for myself increased as we flew over the mountains.
I didn’t care where we were headed, as long as it was outside of Afghanistan.
* * *
In a private room at the Kandahar airport, Rose slept curled up on a string of chairs as we waited for our flight back to the United States.
Frank, her father, sat next to me. I adjusted my seat, partly because the chair was extremely uncomfortable and partly because this was the way I had met Rose’s father for the first time.
And because he was in the CIA.
“You did good in the market,” he said.
“Huh?”
“We were watching, but we didn’t have time to move in before they took you. I liked the way you handled things. You could have run for it, but you stayed behind and tried to keep her safe. That’s someone I can respect and stand behind.”
“Thank you, sir. I love her.”
Both of us glanced over at her while she slept.
“She never told me you were in the CIA.”
“Because she didn’t know. I’ve never told her. Maybe I should have, but I wanted to protect her.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah?”
“I’d like to ask your daughter to marry me. Can I have your blessing?”
“When she came to me about you and Melvin, I did some digging on both of you. That’s when I realized just how dirty Melvin was and how hard you were trying to protect her. If that’s not worthy of my blessing, I don’t know what is.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Quit calling me ‘sir’. Makes me feel old. But don’t you call me ‘dad’ yet either. We’ll see what she says first.”
“She’ll say yes. We’re in love. It’s what brought us back to Afghanistan. We’re in this together for the long haul.”
“She told me about you saving her. I never thanked you for that. Thank you.”
“Just doing my duty. You know how it is.”
He nodded.
We both turned our attention back to Rose, still sleeping soundly.
“She snores,” her father said out of nowhere.
“You don’t need to tell me.”
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, but I stared straight ahead, unashamed. In that moment, sitting with her father, I vowed to spend the rest of my life with Rose, building our love on a foundation of honesty and trust. She had done so much for me, and she deserved nothing short of the best.
CHAPTER 40
Warren
I stood next to Ryan in the luxurious room of St. Cathy’s Cathedral downtown. Organ music floated through the air, bouncing off the ornate walls of the historic place of worship.
“This is it, man. You ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think I am.”
He laughed.
“It’s not a time to be thinking.”
“No, no, I’m sure. We’ve been through so much.”
“You found a good woman, Warren. She’s as strong as you. You guys are going to be fine.”
“She’s stronger than me,” I admitted, knowing full well just how special Rose was and how lucky I was that she chose to spend her life with me.
Ryan pat me on the back. “That very well could be.”
We both laughed, mine sounding full of nervousness and excitement.
The rest of my life was about to begin. As I stared at one of the stained-glass windows in the room, I took a deep breath and relaxed.
What life was worth living without someone to share it with? I had found my true love. My soulmate. For the rest of my
life, I would have someone by my side, no matter what happened. Rose had taught me so much in the short time we’d known each other. She knew my past, she knew my shortcomings, and she loved me all the same. She made me want to be a better person.
* * *
An hour later, I found myself seated next to her at the reception. Everything had moved so quickly, but it was official now. We were married, ‘til death did us part.
“Forever,” I said when she nudged me with her elbow.
“Huh?”
“Sorry. Just thinking.”
“We’ve been here long enough, right?”
I grinned. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
She nodded.
We pushed our chairs back and stood. None of the revelers noticed as we made our way out the back of the reception hall. In the parking lot, I saw her father leaning against his car, smoking a cigarette.
“You two be safe,” he said. “And congratulations.”
Rose waved and I nodded. A moment later, we were in the limousine we’d rented and on our way to our hotel in Upstate New York.
On the ride, we kissed like two kids on prom night. I pulled back after a few minutes, staring into her eyes.
“I told you it would all work out,” I said.
“Don’t think I ever doubted you.” She smirked. “Well, maybe a little in Afghanistan.”
I grinned. “You’re incredible, Rose.”
Her smirk grew into a full-blown smile that lit up her entire face. “We’re married! I still can’t believe it.”
“Me either,” I said. “I love you.”
“I love you too. So much.” She pressed her lips against mine.
The countryside passed outside as time sped by. At the bed-and-breakfast I had rented for the weekend, we made love multiple times a day.
While nice, none of the physical connection compared to hearing her thoughts out loud. Never growing bored, I found myself becoming more and more captivated with her as time went on.
Our lives had been thrown together in a country ravaged by war halfway around the world and our first meeting had been interrupted, but sometimes second chances were possible.
CHAPTER 41
Rose
Lawless Hero_A Bad Boy Military Romance Page 14
