Page 51 of Securing Samantha

“What are you doing here? How did you know my location?” she asked confused why the two men stood there.

Whiskey plucked her son from her arms. “Aye, lad. I flew over on one of those big airplanes like you described. I brought Shadow to stay with you if it’s all right with your mum.” Whiskey turned his gaze to her.

“Is something wrong?” Samantha asked. Suddenly worried someone must be hurt or dead for Whiskey to fly all the way to New York.

“No. Not what you’re thinking, no,” he assured her. “We’re staying nearby. Shadow will take LJ along with him to the hotel. May I speak with ya, lass?”

She mutely nodded her head. “I’ll need to grab some things for LJ.”

“No need, I packed a small bag for him. Shadow’s got everything he needs.” Shadow nodded at her as she kissed her son good night.

She led the way down the hallway. Her mind raced as the key opened the door and she led the way in. Whiskey shut the door.

Whiskey observed Samantha as she laid her coat across the couch and placed her purse on the counter, slipping the key inside.

She turned and began to pick imaginary lint from the couch. “If nothing’s wrong, why did you and Shadow come?”

“If you answered your phone, I wouldn’t resort to such extraordinary measures to find you. I’ve called you since last night. Why didn’t you tell me you left for New York? I understand you and the other women got waylaid yesterday. Kassie arranged an early flight this morning when I didn’t hear from you. I tried calling when we landed and settled in the hotel. I wanted to ensure you were all right,” he softly told her. He slowly advanced as her heart rate picked up.

“I made a spontaneous trip. I planned on texting you later after I got LJ down for the evening,” she offered. She refused to meet his eyes.

“Lass, we need to talk. I buggered things up again. Kassie came to see me.” He held his hands up in front of him as she angrily glanced his way.

“Hear me out, lass. She made me see your side of things. I hurt you terribly. It was never my intention.” He ran his hand down his face and stroked his chin.

Samantha moved to the window overlooking the city lit up in lights. “There’s no reason to apologize for your feelings. I know you endured things I’ll never understand,” she told him softly. “I still don’t understand why you’re here.”

Whiskey moved to her side. His gaze focused on the view outside. “When I launched myself over Olaf, I knew he died. My last thoughts were of you and our child. I ordered my body to survive for you and our son. When I woke up, I didn’t know where I was or how long I stayed unconscious. One thing remained in the back of my mind. I only knew I stayed alive for you. I endured everything, knowing Leo never left a man behind. When no one came for months, I resigned myself thinking the team died and I remained the only survivor. They moved us nonstop. Rahimi sometimes visited the camp and took pleasure in torturing me worse than on the days he remained absent from the camp. I believe now, he did it because Ash lived in the camp, and I became a form of torture for Ash.”

Samantha stroked his arm in a comforting gesture but remained silent while he spoke.

“As I said, I didn’t know the length of time, but I started marking off days and as they turned to years, the hope of getting rescued diminished. The only thing I held on to was you. I endured because I made a promise to come home to you. I watched the sunrise every morning searching for its brightness to lead me back home to you. I recited the recipe for soda bread in my head and mentally made X’s in it to ward off the evils of every day. I gave up on getting discovered. When Saint and Shadow burst in I’ll admit I willed my body to die. I hardly recognized my friends. I thought I hallucinated them until I laid in the backseat of a car and listened to Leo bitch about Kassie shooting him in the ass. I wanted to believe it really happened, they came for me. I found myself asking if a girl actually shot him.”

A single tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m sorry you went through all that.”

“Ivan took us to his house and the men helped me shower. I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Doc treated me for fleas and other crap no one needs to handle. My body was emaciated. I resembled the walking dead. And this occurred after weeks of getting more food on a daily basis than I ate the entire time in captivity.” He swiped away the tear with his thumb.

“When we left, I knew Rahimi’s men followed us. I stayed delusional. It stormed and I remember Doc giving me something to help. We stayed at another place, and the people, the crowds agitated me,” he explained.

She wrapped her arms around him. His arms went around her.

“I took it out on you. I didn’t want you to see me as a weak version of myself. Kassie yelled at me for making you feel like I didn’t want you. Cause truth be told, lass, I want you more than anything.”

Her startled eyes met his. “You said I suffocated you. You can’t even tolerate spending a day with me.”

“It’s me. I’m not the man you married. I changed. I became afraid of the man I turned into. I pushed you away.”

He turned toward her. “I need you.”

A mixture of pain and hurt crossed Samantha’s face. He guessed she needed a moment to absorb everything he told her. His hand pulled the barrette holding her hair from her face, and he watched the tendrils fall. He tugged her gently to him.

“Ash made me question everything. I know I’ll need therapy and I want you to come back to counseling with me. We’ll tell LJ I’m his da and I’ll go see my parents. I’ll make this better, I promise.”

His hand stroked her cheek, and she leaned into his palm and grasped the hand on her face. Tears fell freely. He kissed them away.

“You scared me. I got this feeling deep down and I needed to come see you. I wanted to make it right,” he whispered.

He tilted her chin up and covered her mouth. She leaned into him and let him in. The relief he felt at having her in his arms was indescribable. All the confusion, fears, and anxiety stopped when he held her in his arms. The lavender fragrance wafted from her hair. He closed his eyes, breathing it in.

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