Page 103 of Unseen Danger

“Phoenix has been trying to get physical confirmation that he’s really there right now. You know, showing up at work, has an alibi.” Nevaeh gazed out the windshield. “Phoenix told me before we left that she’s going to put more pressure on her contact in L.A. to verify herself that he’s there.”

“Phoenix has contacts in California?”

Nevaeh threw him a grin. “The boss is more connected than the FBI and CIA put together.”

“How’d she manage that?” Branson caught Nevaeh’s shrug from the corner of his eye.

“Nobody really knows. At least, none of us on the team do. I don’t think. She’s tight with FBI agents, the police, and she even fixed something for Sofia with the CIA.”

“Sounds very mysterious.”

“That’s Phoenix. She pretty much saved my life.” Nevaeh’s voice tightened as if with emotion as she turned her head toward the passenger window. “Got me back on my feet when she gave me this job. And she gave me Cannenta and Alvarez. So I don’t care if she has secrets. Anything she does is good with me.”

Appreciation welled in Branson’s chest. He didn’t have a right to, but he felt like thanking Phoenix Gray himself for how she’d helped Nevaeh. He could tell it had made a big impact.

And he could continue her progress. “I’d like to help, too.”

Silence followed his statement, but that didn’t stop a plan from forming in his mind.

“Some friends of mine have helped women in your situation recover by equipping them with skills to defend themselves in the future. Just knowing they can protect themselves helps eliminate the fear.”

Her lovely curls bobbed as she nodded. “I already do that. Phoenix trains me in jiujitsu so I can beat a bigger opponent.”

“Is it working?”

She lifted her eyebrows.

“I mean, can you defeat someone bigger? Someone like me?”

“I hope so.”

That’s what he’d thought. “You need to know. How about I train with you? Give you someone larger to practice on?”

Her eyes widened before she glanced away. “I don’t know.”

“It probably sounds…” He stopped himself from saying scary. He didn’t want her to feel he was judging or demeaning her in any way. “Uncomfortable.”

Silence hung between them again. Except for Alvarez panting behind his head. Maybe he was pushing her too much. “Does being close to me still make you uneasy?”

She looked at him again, something different in the gaze that darted up from his waist to his face. “No.”

A smile settled on his mouth as his insides warmed. “Good. Then I’m your chance to see that you can really do it. That you can defend yourself against a man, someone who outweighs you.” By a lot, he could’ve added as he quickly scanned her curvy but small figure. “Or have you already practiced with a man?”

“No. Only Phoenix. Because of…”

Her PTSD. She didn’t need to finish for him to know what she meant. If being close to a man terrified her and triggered her PTSD, it made sense she’d avoid that possibility. “I get it. But wouldn’t you feel better knowing, not just hoping, you could defend yourself against someone my size?”

She didn’t answer as she aimed her gaze out the windshield.

“It won’t happen again, Nevaeh. You won’t need the skills.” He tried to infuse his voice with the promise he made inwardly. The promise to keep her safe, no matter what. “But it could do wonders to know you could protect yourself, if you had to.”

Her gaze flitted over him again, and he caught a glimmer of fear in her eyes before they darted away.

“I was a Navy SEAL and served two tours. I’ve seen the effects dangerous situations have on different people. And I’ve seen a lot of fear.”

Images of their faces, men turning to flee, others staying to fight to their deaths, cycled in his memory. “Fear can be our worst enemy. You can’t let it fester, or it’ll grow until it controls you. You have to beat it.”

She jerked her head toward him. “That’s not what Phoenix says. She wants me to use my fear as a tool. She says it can help me.”

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