Page 79 of Master of My Heart

He shook his head. He could do this. It was what he was trained for. This was what he’d wanted to do for more than half his life.

Okay, well not this exactly. He’d wanted to fight for his country. He supposed this was still for his country, for the most part. Doing jobs for the Brotherhood in other countries did have to be sanctioned by his own Elders. He was still using his skills for the greater good. And, ultimately, that was what mattered.

His men were as exhausted as he was, but they wouldn’t admit it. At least not out loud. None of them would. And he knew they understood why he’d pushed them. It hadn’t been hard. They were all motivated to get out as soon as possible.

For him. For Sabrina.

The thought humbled him. Not for the first time, he thanked the universe for such an awesome group of men, friends who were willing to work with him.

Once back at the hotel, he’d call Richard and let him know he was okay. Richard would tell his mom, who’d be relieved. Alex would call his wife and let her know he was fine. He wondered if he could push up the meeting with Flores in order to get home faster. He’d have to ask Richard about that. Chase couldn’t approach the Elder personally and ask.

He just wanted to get home to see the girl who had hold of his heart. Now that Chase knew she was alive and well, and in Boston, he could hardly contain his excitement. It had been so long. He’d been so afraid something terrible had happened to her and she was lost forever.

But no. She was in Boston. Did she know he would be there soon? Did her heart pound when she thought of him? He wanted to pull out his phone and look at his picture of her, just as he had before he’d left, but didn’t dare. Not yet. Not until they were safe at the hotel.

He closed his eyes and thought about the first time he’d seen her. Dark hair flashing fire in the sunlight, sun-kissed cheeks, excited pale-green eyes as she watched the dancers perform up on stage. She’d grabbed hold of his heart in that moment and still held it years later.

For what felt like the millionth time, he relived their conversation on the yacht. The memory of her voice made his heart race and he smiled.

“Thinking about her?” Ethan asked. He sat next to Chase and arched a brow. Chase rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face. His friend laughed. “Thought so.”

He shrugged. “Before we left on this trip, I told Richard I’d let her go and find someone else. Now I don’t have to. I know exactly where she is.”

“Think Jayson asked her out?” When Chase growled, Ethan laughed again. “Dude, kidding. You know he wouldn’t do that.”

“Maybe once he figured out who she was.” An alarming thought occurred to him. “What if someone else did, though?”

“Then you’ll just have to woo her back,” Alex said from behind him. “You’re a decent man. Not bad looking. Shouldn’t be too hard.” The men all laughed as Alex acted like he was studying Chase.

“Thanks for your vote of confidence,” Chase muttered, then laughed. He was too happy to get upset at the teasing. That, and he respected the heck out of Alex. He couldn’t take offense at anything the big German said.

The conversation around him turned to coarser subjects, such as the red girls at the Brazilian Elder’s Manor. He had a feeling there would be a lot of drinking tonight. No doubt some would find a companion for the evening. Normally, Chase would, as well, but he didn’t know how he felt about that now. Honestly, he just wanted to stare at the picture of Sabrina and think about seeing her again.

When did you turn into such a mushy guy?

Chase smirked at himself and stared out at the jungle again, ignoring the crude comments around him.

Where had she been all these years? What had she been doing? All evidence pointed to her being kidnapped, though. How did she escape? Had it been terrible? Had she been abused? Did she even remember him? Would she be as excited to see him as he was to see her?

He scratched his chin through his beard. He couldn’t wait to shave the damn thing off. Some of the guys mentioned they might keep theirs, but Chase preferred being clean-shaven. Though it did hide the scar on the left side of his face caused by the explosion in Syria.

Would Sabrina mind his scar? Some women thought it was sexy. Others were afraid of it. He had other scars, too. A few on his chest and a bunch on his left leg where he’d almost lost his foot.

Did she remember coming to him and healing him? Or had it been a hallucination?

So many questions, but he wouldn’t have answers until he got back home.

Only a few more days.

*****

Monday morning, Chase paced in his hotel room as he waited for Richard to answer his phone. After they’d arrived at the hotel late last night, Chase had done little more than take a shower, eat a snack, and fall into bed. He’d awoken mid-morning thinking of Sabrina and ordered room service before reaching for his phone. He needed to talk to someone who had seen her. He needed answers.

Well, he wasn’t certain Richard had seen her, but he might have.

“Hello?” Richard sounded out of breath. “Chase? You back in civilization?”

“I am. We’re all safe and sound in Puerto Iguazu.”

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