Page 120 of Lucky In Love

I nodded and wiped my face down. “I’ll get cleaned up and be right there.”

“No, he wants you now.”

I gave him a confused look, and he pressed his lips into a thin line, not saying a thing. He held my gaze with a hard stare, like he was trying to put together a puzzle, before I let out a sigh and nodded. Only then did he finally turn and head for Beth. After wiping down the equipment, I slipped on a T-shirt, grabbed my bag, and hooked the strap over my shoulder. Bug’s laughter caught my attention, and I looked over just as Wes pulled the emergency chain, reached over, threw her over his shoulder, and rushed past me and up the stairs from the basement level, Bug playfully fighting him off the entire way.

My heart swelled with love for them. They had both endured terrible losses, and to see them find happiness again gave me hope for my future.

One day, I’ll have that.

They say it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. But the pain of loving someone so completely, only to have them ripped from you is not something I would wish on my worst enemy. Wes and Beth had endured that kind of loss and had still found love in each other. They had told me they didn’t love each other the same way they had loved their previous spouses, but it was all-consuming all the same.

I want that.

I took a deep breath when I got upstairs to the main entryway and smiled at the sound of Bug’s playful shriek in the upstairs hall before a door slammed shut, cutting off all sound. Tossing my gym bag at the base of the stairs, I turned to the shut door of Emmett’s office and knocked.

It was just a moment before I heard Emmett’s, “Come in.”

I opened the door, and he was standing behind his desk, leaning on the back of the chair in front of him, while Jensen was leaning against the front of the new, carved, wooden desk, arms and ankles crossed. There was a woman in the leather chair facing Emmett’s desk with bright red hair, cut blunt and short, and dark skin. Her long legs were visible, and I didn’t miss how they were scraped and bleeding. There were more scratches down the one arm on this side of her, and I noted a scar that ran from mid-bicep through the back of the elbow and disappeared into the forearm. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t see her face. She had turned her head just enough that it was impossible to determine if it was someone I knew. Looking back to Emmett, I shut the door behind me. “You wanted to see me?”

His attention went to Jensen, who was looking at the woman. “Do you want to tell him?” She shook her head, and as the hair moved, I saw a tattoo on her neck, but with the dim lighting in Emmett’s office, I couldn’t clearly make it out from this distance. There was blood matting the ends of her hair, but they’d given her a clean white tank top while Doc had worked on her at least.

When she didn’t say anything, Jensen continued, “I got a call earlier today from a particular informant of mine.” He jerked his head to the woman. “She had some information that was crucial but was being held hostage by Ivanov.”

I took a step forward as her shoulders tightened and she winced. “Which is why you ran out of here like a bat out of hell earlier.” He nodded. “So, what do you need from me?”

“While she is apparently very thankful that we pulled her out of the hellhole that they were keeping her in, she is holding the information hostage from us now.”

I scrunched my eyebrows together. “So, make her tell you. Do your job.”

The woman flinched, and Jensen gave me an even look. “Believe it or not, if there is a way to get the information without bloodshed, I at least try to go that route first. Hence why you are here. She won’t tell us anything until she sees you. Part of the deal we had made. She’s demanding payment.”

“Okay. Well, while I don’t appreciate being payment, I’m here.” I took a couple steps forward as she stood. I was just out of reach when she turned to face me, freezing me in place, including my heart.

There was no way the woman in front of me could be sitting there.

“Hi, Shadow.”

Chapter Three

Andrew

“Angel? You . . . You’re not . . .” I barely got the words out. My chest was so tight. Hell, I wasn’t sure if the words had actually left my lips. “How are you sitting here?”

Her lips turned into a sad smile. “I know. The last time you saw me . . . I should not have lived through that. Though, from what I’ve heard, you shouldn’t have lived through, what was it, five shots to the chest?”

How does she know about that? “Six, but you know me. Stubborn streak runs deep.”

While I couldn’t take my eyes off her, Jensen asked, “Webber, how do you know Christine Wilkons?”

“We were dating while I was still in MMA. We met at one of the fights in Omaha. She gave me her number, and when she winked at me, I was a goner. I called her the next day, and for the most part, we were able to keep our relationship out of the news. Kind of surprised that Lindhollm didn’t know about her. Anyway, Angel went on tour with me for a year, technically as part of the staff, and I asked her to marry me two years later. Then not long after . . .”

“Detroit.” Emmett inserted for reference.

Swallowing hard, I tore my gaze from her and looked at Jensen and Emmett. I couldn’t tell this story while looking at her. “The bomb went off in Detroit. Concrete rained down over us, and a large chunk fell on her legs and another piece pinned her arm down.” I took a quick, deep breath, trying to shake the image of her from my mind—she’s been stuck there, coughing from the smoke, and I hadn’t been able to do anything about it. “Emergency services pulled me away screaming, but as you know, my kneecap was crushed. I had broken my right arm in three places and had a broken ankle. I wasn’t in the best of shape.”

“Not long after that is when I promoted you to Prime and you left the circuit. Took six months for you to get back on your feet.”

I nodded and looked back at Christine. “How did you even survive? The smoke?—”

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