Page 95 of Rugged and Filthy

“Do you have her?” I screamed.

“No!” Jack snarled. “Where the hell did Hudson go?”

The lights from the rig were thrown in our direction. I spun around in a circle seeing nothing. I dove into the water, the light barely doing anything. Forced to the surface again, the swell of emotions rushing through me was so intense I couldn’t breathe.

“She’s gone. She’s fucking gone,” Jack’s anguished voice sounded off from behind me.

I’d long since given up being a man of God if I ever had been. Even being in the Marines, the horrors I’d seen hadn’t driven me back to religion. Maybe that’s because it was the deeds of mankind that had turned the world upside down.

But at that moment, I prayed not only for the life of my friend, a man who’d been by my side and through thick or thin, but also for the woman I loved.

I loved her.

Goddamn it, I loved her.

Please, God. Don’t take her from me. From us. Please.

There was one thing my father had conveyed, one belief he’d once told me he’d take to the grave. That there was someone bigger than all of us, something pulling the strings. Well, if that was the case, that someone had listened to the anguished cry of a man who’d spent way too much time hating the world around him.

As a rush of energy electrified the atmosphere, something incredible happened.

Hudson appeared from the depths of the blackness, holding the woman I loved in his arms.

The woman we loved.

And she was alive.

CHAPTER 26

Rylee

Tragedies come in threes.

That’s what I’d heard countless times. Maybe I’d broken the cycle. Correction, maybe the three men who’d jumped into the fucking icy water, determined to save my life had slammed their way into the cycle, crushing it between their rugged fingers.

I was one lucky woman. To not only to be alive but catered to by three men was entirely delicious and frivolous. They acted as if I was even more fragile, refusing to leave my side once they’d gotten me into a hot shower.

The effects of the drug had lasted a few hours, knocking me out. They’d bathed me, dressed me in warm clothes and put blankets over me, watching me the rest of the night.

Or so I’d been told.

I’d awakened to bright sun outside, quickly learning of two of my men’s deaths. My hunks had also tried to take me to the hospital, but I’d refused, ignoring the aches and pains, the chills that refused to leave after hearing of their heroic actions. The boat holding the men who’d tried to kidnap me had washed out to sea, carrying their dead bodies with it. Did I once mourn their losses or feel guilty for what the guys had done?

Nope.

I remained both saddened and horrified, deciding I needed to be the one to tell the families of their losses.

My three heroes had tried to fight me, but I’d insisted on going by myself, although I had a feeling they wouldn’t leave me alone for long. They’d made me promise to head to the hotel as soon as I was done talking with the two families and had a brief meeting with my father. They’d notified law enforcement officials as soon as the satellite was in working order, a half dozen men and women flying out by helicopter to the rig the next morning. That had delayed us returning home for hours. At least by the time we’d been clear to leave, I’d gotten my sea legs back.

And my anger.

Meanwhile, my heroes and the story had yet to be confirmed, placing them on lockdown in town. At least we’d get to spend more time on dry land, so it would seem. While they were now acting suspicious, refusing to tell me some information I have a feeling they found, I would get it out of them on my return to the hotel. They didn’t know what I was made of.

I’d called my sister, terrified she’d been harmed or worse, thankful when she’d answered her phone like always. Nothing had occurred, my entire family safe. I’d asked her to keep my baby for a little longer, now uncertain if I wanted to go through with the contract my father had signed off on or not when my handsome riggers were cleared to resume their normal lives. In a shocking move, my father had listened to my pleas, also staying with her for the past two nights. At least I knew they were safe.

I’d called and left him a message, asking if he’d meet me at the house. It was time we had an even more frank conversation and cleared the air so he could concentrate on continuing to improve or at least not need to worry so much about my future. Besides, I had something pretty amazing to tell him, news I hoped would make him happy, relieved and allow him to stop worrying about me.

It would seem my heroes, the men I’d tried so hard to hate for so long wanted to remain in my life.

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