Page 113 of The Wrecked One

The way his wife did to him. Only Rebecca helped the enemy, and Sly’s wife is helping us.

“Why would she do that?” Mason asked, moving to stand behind Gwen as she worked.

“Because most parents will do anything to protect their children,” Wyatt pointed out. “She must have had a change of heart about her husband’s business dealings, or only recently found out about it all sometime before Thailand.”

“But she knew her limitations in trying to get away from a group like The Collective,” I said in understanding, everything clicking into place. “It’s possible she had some cyber friend helping her in the background, and when she learned about Thailand from Sly, she saw her chance to save her kids.”

“It’s a smart play, and probably the only play Alyssa Soren had to make given her husband’s family is in league with the devil. Save the people who have the best shot at taking down her enemy.” Gwen’s words had the hairs on my arms standing.

“Call your father and have him tell POTUS what’s going on,” Carter said, eyes on Gray, but Gray already had his phone out, presumably thinking the same thing. “Get that woman and her kids protected before Hugo Soren can take her out.”

“Should I keep trying to figure out who our hacker is?” Gwen asked after Gray left the room. “Or just leave that for another day now that we know our insider?”

“Leave it for another day.” Carter surveyed the room, attention moving to me last. “For now, let’s focus on surviving tonight.”

43

MYA

I hurried for the stairs, rushing up them two at a time. Our bedroom was at the end of the hall, and the door was locked. I knocked, but when I went to rap my knuckles for a second time, I stopped myself.

I’d never be able to handle hearing two consecutive knocks again. Not after Thailand. Shortly after those knocks, I’d had a scarf removed from my eyes, and discovered Oliver cuffed to that bed, and then . . .

I shook my thoughts free from that dark memory and lowered my hand.

Fortunately, as I stood there, contemplating what to do next, Oliver unlocked the door at my one knock.

When he opened up, he was only in a towel, beads of water rolling down his hard abdomen.

“Hi.” It always amazed me how he had the ability to take my breath away, making me feel like I was young again and untainted by the darkness of the world. Now I was thirty-three and had been jaded for years, but in his presence, with his eyes on me, I was drawn back to the light, to the world of Maybe there is hope. I’d much rather live there than in the one I’d been in for so long.

“Hi.” He stretched his good arm up to the top of the doorframe, staring back at me as if he felt the exact same way I did. As if we were just two people simply existing without a care in the world.

“Hi.” I blinked. “Wait, I already said that.”

“I’m down for a second round of hellos if you’d like.” The humor in his tone was the only thing distracting me from what I’d learned minutes ago downstairs.

Well, so were the sexy V-lines that disappeared beneath the cotton. Could I reach out and confirm if it was Egyptian cotton? Maybe a Turkish towel? Could it slip to the floor in the process, right along with the main reason I’d run to the room?

I finally forced myself to snap my thoughts from the sex gutter they were whirling around in and dragged my eyes up his muscular torso to his face. “How are you feeling?” Baby steps before I dropped a few bombshells on him. Work my way up to Pecker and Brutus potentially collaborating against us. And to Sly’s wife being our guardian angel.

“Sore,” he admitted, dropping his arm to step to the side, a clear invitation for me to join him. “I might need to ice up before we roll out later, but I’m ready for tonight.”

I shut the door behind me and leaned against it. “Wyatt has a plan to ensure Gwen and I get off the island safely, and it involves swimming with SEALs. Tell me there aren’t sharks in these waters.” I’d rather start with some good news before getting to the bad. Soften the blow of the rest of it all.

He went over to the dresser and slipped on Tucker’s tags before facing me. “There are, but they’re rarely seen around here. Pretty sure they’re on a different diet than our sharks in Florida. They don’t have a taste for seals.”

“Real funny.” But my heart rate had dialed back at his joke. And if Oliver didn’t appear stressed about me getting into the water given how overprotective he was, then maybe I didn’t need to be. I had jumped from a plane with the man, so why not swim with SEALs and pray (really freaking hard) that sharks didn’t tag along for the ride?

“I have my moments.” His lips twitched into a grin, and I hated to kill that smile with the rest of my news, but I went ahead and laid everything out, including the fact we were pretty sure Alyssa Soren was on Team Good Guys, not Team Bird Shit.

After I finished clearing the air, sharing everything, Oliver dropped down on the bed. Yeah, it was a lot to take in.

I joined him on the twin bed. The team had shot us a few puzzled looks yesterday after we’d staked our claim on the room with twin beds, but they didn’t press. Until Oliver was truly healed, we’d do what we had to, and I was okay with that.

Last night, I’d somehow slept fine, but he’d had a rough night. He’d tossed and turned, then fought the air as if there was a person there, and it’d wrecked me to stand by and watch, only murmuring I was there for him as I waited for him to wake up.

“Still think everything will be okay later?” I broke the silence, and he stood and went over to the dresser, setting his palms on the smooth surface.

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