“We can’t. We have to wait for Evie.”
“She’s got people who care. People who would never put her at risk. You need to leave.”
All the color left Blake’s face.
“I’ll deal with Jim when I get back to the States.”
“I’ll stand with him. I knew better.”
Aiden paused. “Yes. Yes, you did,” Aiden agreed.
Blake turned toward Jim, then back to Aiden. “Remember on the first video. We saw the Englishman. He wasn’t there tonight.”
“I know. Now get the hell out of here. I can’t stand the sight of him.” Aiden turned to look at Gray.
***
Gray had called Drake from the car. Now Aiden called him.
“What did the doctor say?” Drake sounded frantic.
“She’s going to be okay. She was giving me shit. She told me that I lacked intelligence. Your sister is one of the original hardheaded Avery women.”
“Don’t bullshit me, O’Malley. What was done to her?” Aiden heard the tentative tone and knew the real question Drake was asking.
“She had her clothes on. But they’re doing a full exam. Drake, she sustained multiple beatings. I think she has broken ribs.”
He heard Drake’s gasp of pain. Then he heard a feminine whisper in the background, he was sure it was Karen.
“Get her home. Bring her to me.”
“She’ll want to go to Tennessee,” Aiden protested.
“I want her in California. Karen can’t travel. Did you make those bastards pay?”
“Three of them are dead.”
“Jim and Blake. Are you going to kill them?”
“I’ll take care of them once we’re stateside.”
“Let me.”
“No. You stay with Karen and your baby. They’re mine.”
“Think what you want, O’Malley, but she’s my sister.”
Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose. He heard more whispers.
“When will you know her condition?”
That was the question of the hour. “I don’t know.”
“Clint said that a good doctor is working on her.”
“Seems to be, if he’d ever get the hell back out here and tell us what’s going on.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gray giving him a nod of encouragement. It didn’t help. Nothing would help until he heard that Evie was going to be okay.
“Call me as soon as you hear something. I mean immediately. You got that?” Aiden didn’t bristle at Drake’s attitude, he knew how upset the man was.
“I will.”
“I want her brought to California. She can double up with Piper,” Drake said decisively.
That was so not happening. She’d be staying with him, Aiden thought.
“I’ll call you.”
“Don’t forget.” For once Drake sounded less like a commanding asshole and more like a distraught big brother.
“I won’t,” Aiden assured him.
He hung up and turned to Gray. “Goddammit, what’s taking so long?”
Gray put his hand on Aiden’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’ve done some checking. This place is good. Invins is good.”
“Blake was right, she could have internal injuries. I swear she had broken ribs. If she does, they won’t release her to fly commercial.”
“I thought they only did that if the lungs collapsed,” Gray said.
“They’ll be cautious.”
“We transport injured to Germany all the time with broken ribs. We’ll arrange for her to fly out of Incirlik Air Force base, through Germany, to San Diego. We will get her stateside. Count on it.”
“What did the woman from the Embassy say?” Aiden asked.
“The copy of Evie’s passport that you brought helped. Amy will have a replacement for Evie in forty-eight hours.”
Aiden nodded.
Two more hours passed.
Invins came out with a woman in scrubs. Shit, they’d operated. Aiden was beside them in a heartbeat.
“Tell me.”
“We removed her spleen. She’s doing well,” the woman answered with accented English. “Her left kidney was bruised, but it will heal.”
Okay. Okay, this was workable.
“What else?” He looked back and forth between the two doctors.
“The rape kit came back negative. She has a concussion, her shoulder was dislocated and we taped it up. Her ribs are badly bruised. No broken bones.”
“We’re taking her home in two days.”
“Impossible,” the female doctor said immediately.
Dr. Invins jumped in. “This is a special set of circumstances, Doctor. It is imperative that Ms. Avery be relocated back home as soon as possible.”
“I won’t release her.”
“She’s going home,” Aiden said quietly.
Gray stepped up beside him. She looked at the two of them.
“Three days,” she said.
“Two. She’ll be going on military transport. She’ll have the best care available.”
The doctor sighed. “Fine.”
“When can I see her.”
“She’ll be out of recovery and in a room in forty-five minutes.”
Aiden nodded.
***
Aiden forgot just how tiny she was. She had such a big presence. Half of her face was bruised, but the rest was as white as the sheet she was lying on.
“Kitten?”
The eye that wasn’t swollen shut fluttered open.
“Hi, handsome,” she whispered, and then started coughing. He picked up the glass of water beside her bedside and put the straw to her lips. When she tried to raise her head, he put his arm under her pillow and lifted her.
“Take a slow sip.”
He watched as her throat moved. After four swallows, he took the glass away.
“I want more,” she protested.
“In a couple of minutes.” Then because he couldn’t help himself, he brushed a butterfly kiss against her bruised temple.
“Don’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“If you’re tender, I’ll feel fragile, and I’ll cry. Don’t let me cry.”
“Oh, Baby, you have every right to cry.”
“If I start, I might never stop.” A tear seeped out of her swollen eye. “Oh, God, it’s starting.”
“I won’t tell anybody.”
“You’re somebody.” Her lower lip trembled. He looked at the cut that bisected the flesh. Ice pervaded his veins. One more man needed to die. He needed to find the man with the English accent, the man who commanded that she be beaten.
“Aiden?”
“I’m here.” He knelt beside the bed, and continued to keep his arm under her pillow. He cupped her unblemished cheek. “I’m always going to be here, Eva.”
“No, you won’t. You left.” More tears fell.
“I came back.”
“Sure you did, you’re a hero. You came to rescue the damsel in distress. Of course, you came back,” she said bitterly. She turned her head away.
“Eyes.”
She didn’t respond.
“Please, Kitten.”
She turned her head.
“Eye. I only have one good eye to look at you with.”
He felt a glimmer of a grin. “Okay, I want to see your expression on me. I need it, Eva.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to listen to me. Really hear me.”
She stared at him.
“Nothing would stop me from coming to you. I’m always going to be there when you need me.”
She continued to stare at him.
“You’re coming home with me.”
She jerked her head, shaking it. “No way.”
“Drake wants you in California.”
“I’m going home to Tennessee. Trenda is going to take care of me.”
“Drake wants you to stay with him. He intends for you to share a room with Piper.”
“I’m going home
to Tennessee,” she said mutinously. Then she coughed again.
Aiden reached over and picked up the glass. “Drink.”
“I want more this time.” She pouted.
“God, you’re stubborn.”
She sipped from the straw. He waited until she finished this time.
“If I’m that much of a pain in the ass, then you should let me go to Tennessee.”
Aiden laughed. “I thought you were a pain in the ass last night.”
She searched his face. “Really?” she asked softly. He’d hurt her feelings.
“Yep, I also thought you were amazing and breathtaking.”
“No, you didn’t.”
He put down the glass, and pulled her closer, treating her like spun glass.
“Eva, whether you’re on the floor playing with Bella, watching a chick flick with Piper, going after some bastard with a bat, or you’re catching fire in my arms, you have always taken my breath away.”
She looked up at him with a dazed expression. “Handsome, I want to believe you. But you betrayed me.”
“Wrong, I tried to protect you.”
“Explain it to me.” She yawned.
He brushed a light kiss across her lips. “Sleep, Kitten.”
“Will you be here when I wake up?”
“I promise.”
He watched as her she drifted to sleep.
***
The crew at Incirlik Air Force base was good, even though they weren’t Navy. Invins had arranged for an ambulance to transport Evie all the way to the base, which was a feat in and of itself. The Turkish government wanted to sweep her kidnapping under the rug and avoid publicity. They were still dealing with an unsubstantiated story that had made international news about a European woman who supposedly had been found in the Antakya landfill, and they didn’t want any more bad press.
As Gray and Aiden followed the ambulance in a small rental car, there were very few words spoken. Gray had found a radio station that played European techno music that Aiden had promptly shut off.
“You’re no fun.”
“And your point is?” Aiden asked.
“She’s going to be fine,” Gray assured him.
“There are lots of complications that can happen with a splenectomy. What’s more, the doctor was right, she probably shouldn’t be travelling so soon.”
“She definitely shouldn’t be flying commercial. This is military medical transport. This is what they do. She’ll be fine. She’ll be better than fine. She’ll be in San Diego in no time, and surrounded by family.”
Aiden looked at his phone. Ninety more minutes and they’d be at the base, and he’d be able to check on Evie. He knew that they’d given her a sedative for the drive. It was supposed to last three more hours, but she was stubborn. There was an attendant riding in the back with her. He would administer more if she woke up. Aiden prayed she wasn’t in anymore pain.
“We’ll get there soon,” Gray said as he turned the radio back on. This time it was a Pink Floyd song. Aiden closed his eyes and calmed down. Gray was right, they’d be in San Diego in less than twenty hours.
***
The medics on the transport were thoroughly sick of him by the time they arrived in San Diego. He didn’t know how often he heard the words, ‘Stand down’ and ‘We’ve got this.’ Finally, their captain just let him take point on Evie’s care. When they unloaded her and got to the base hospital in Coronado, she was once again regaining consciousness.
“Where am I?” she asked in a panicked voice as she was wheeled into her room.
“You’re home, Baby. You’re in California,” Aiden reassured her.
“Senior Chief, I need you to leave while I examine my patient,” a doctor said as he came into the room.
Aiden stood straight. “I think you and I need to talk first. I’m a medic. She’s been under my care while she was transported here. I have her records from Turkey.”
The doctor paused then nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Where’s Drake?” Evie asked from the bed that the orderlies had just placed her in.
Aiden stepped beside the bed and cupped her cheek. “He’s outside. He’ll be in as soon as the doctor gives the all clear. As a matter of fact, you have quite a few visitors waiting outside.”
She frowned at him. “Piper? Karen?”
“Piper’s outside. So is the entire team and their women.”
“Uhm-mm,” the doctor interrupted.
Evie clutched his arm. “What about Karen?”
“She’s fine. I promise. Let me talk to the doctor, okay?”
She gave a small nod.
Chapter Eleven
“I don’t like this,” Drake said for the forty-first time.
“Would you keep your voice down? Eva is exhausted. She just got to sleep,” Aiden said in a low, resigned tone. He was tired, and this conversation was just irritating him.
“She needs to be with family.”
“Drake, you can’t split your attention. You have to focus on Karen. Evie knows that,” Aiden said reasonably.
“Piper can keep an eye on Evie.”
“Piper is getting ready to start USD. She needs to concentrate on that. Let me do this.”
“She doesn’t want to be here.” Drake looked around the large living room.
“If she really didn’t want to be here, you know she would have dug in her heels. Your sister is ornery. But she acquiesced. She knew this was the right place for her to rest and heal.”
Drake sighed. “Yeah. If you fuck this up, I’m going to rip your head off, and-”
“Shit down my neck. I know.” Aiden grimaced. “Seriously, you need to come up with new threats.”
“So what are you going to do about the two assholes in Tennessee? I promised to leave them up to you, but if you take too long, I’m going to go down there and handle things myself. It’s only because you saw her in Turkey that I’m allowing you first dibs.” Drake clenched his big fists.
“I want to stay with Evie for a week. Karen should be off bed rest by then, right?”
“How did you know? Oh yeah, medic boy.” Drake nodded. “Yeah, six more days. She’s already chomping at the bit, but she doesn’t want to do anything to endanger Caroline.”
Aiden smiled. “What a beautiful name. Caroline Avery. Seriously, man, the docs know what they’re doing. She’s going to be fine. Anyway, after Karen is off bed rest, I figure you, and she can come over here and stay. I have plenty of room. Then I need twenty-four hours.”
“What do you plan?”
“The nuclear option.”
“What’s that? Explain.”
“I’ll tell you when I come back. You’ll have to trust me.”
“Fucking A, she’s my sister. I want to know!”
Aiden winced. “Keep it down. I will handle this.”
“I want them to bleed.” He saw the pain in the big man’s black eyes.
“So do I. I’ll handle it. You have to trust me. I was there. I carried her out of that room. I’ll handle this.” Drake stared at him, and finally nodded, apparently satisfied.
“Okay, I’m going to go look in on her one last time.”
Aiden shook his head and smiled. He watched him go down the hall, and then went into the kitchen. He needed to start dinner. Hopefully, he could fix something that would tempt Evie. All of the travelling had played havoc on her appetite, and she had hardly touched the food at the hospital, not that he could blame her. He’d called ahead and had his fridge stocked. He pulled out the ingredients to make a pot roast. He knew she liked that.
He looked up when Drake came back out.
“You have all of our numbers?”
Aiden chuckled. “You have to mellow out.”
“You sound like a surfer. Has Mason taken you out on the waves?”
“Leave already. I have dinner to cook.”
“I’m gone.” Drake let himself out the front door, and Aiden breathed a sigh of relief. He finished
seasoning the meat, then put it into the pan and into the oven. He washed his hands and made his way down the hall to check on Evie.
She was in the big guest room that was decorated in greens and blues. He’d hoped it would be soothing for her, but looking at the state of the covers, he could see she was having trouble resting. He watched as she rolled over, then he heard her whimper.
God, he didn’t want to scare her, but he hated seeing her in distress. He went over and sat on the bed.
“Eva?”
She was murmuring something, but he couldn’t make it out. Then she swung her arm out. She was clearly in the middle of a nightmare.
“Oh, Baby. Wake up.”
“Stop! Fuck you!” She tried to push up. “Ow!”
Aiden caught her before she hurt herself.
“Get away!” She swung at him, and he gently held her, knowing she was going to hurt her shoulder if he didn’t restrain her.
“Eva, wake up. It’s me, Aiden. You’re safe. You’re safe, Kitten. You’re safe.” Over and over, he continued to talk to her, trying to get through to her. Eventually, she settled.
“Aiden?”
“Yeah, Baby. It’s me. Are you with me now?”
She let out a trembling sigh.
“Where am I?”
“You’re at my house.”
“Where’s Drake? Is he still here?”
“He left. He had to get back to Karen. He’ll be back tomorrow.” Her slight frame relaxed a little more in his arms.
“Karen’s okay, right? The baby? I didn’t dream that? Everything’s been fuzzy.”
“You’ve been through a lot. The surgery, jetlag, and pain killers.”
“Kidnapping and beatings,” she said with a half-laugh.
“I was getting there,” he assured her. “God, you have an amazing spirit.” He brushed back her damp hair so he could look into her eyes.
“No, I don’t. You’re confusing being a smartass with spirit. All I’ve ever been is a middle sister with a smart mouth.” He looked at the mouth in question. Her face was still bruised, but he wanted to kiss her. Needed to kiss her.
He dipped down and slanted his lips ever so softly against her delicate lips. She parted her mouth on a sigh. Where before they had ignited in passion, now they slid into adoration. He cherished the woman in his arms, thankful that he had this chance, but soon the sweet feelings morphed into a tempest of want.
Her Relentless SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 10) Page 8
