Page 59 of Saint

???

Breathe through the fear.

Mia’s words flooded Saint’s brain and he did his best to follow her advice. But the reality of the situation had him bowed and bent like a branch in a storm, and blinding, irrational fear crippled him.

“Fuuuck,” he mewled, scratching his fingernails down the wooden lid holding him hostage. After slamming his balled-up fists against the lid several times, he tried to angle his body and hit it with his elbow, but it was too cramped. His lungs constricted and it felt like he was going to suffocate. It wasn’t airtight, so he wouldn’t die of asphyxiation. But, he would perish eventually.

The rational part of his brain which held all of his training and his ability to think strategically and logically fucking disappeared. Panic and terror infused every cell in his body as he squeezed his eyes shut and reverted to trying to claw his way out.

Of course, he knew it would never work, but his brain was in the throes of a first-rate fucking panic attack.

Breathe through the fear.

Mia.He forcibly shoved the fear down and instead pulled up a mental image of her. He couldn’t deny the truth any longer—he was falling hard for her. So hard and so fast it could only be one thing.

Love.

He never thought he was capable of the emotion. Hell, no one had ever loved him growing up, so he didn’t think he could love anyone else. Never fully understood how the emotion worked, how it hit like a fucking freight train, until he’d picked Mia up, tossed her over his shoulder and carted her through the parking lot last week.

Goldilocks had challenged him every step of the way, and he’d loved every smart-mouthed comment she’d delivered. Somehow, she’d reached deep into what he believed was his empty chest and reactivated the organ he’d thought was dead. She made him feel so damn much. Whatever magic spell she’d cast had helped heal parts of himself he had refused to admit were broken.

Now his fierce kitten, so loyal and determined, was in trouble. The truth was out and Carlisle wasn’t bothering to pretend she was his daughter any longer. That meant one very big thing—he’d consider her an inconvenience, a loose end that needed to be eliminated. Especially since Salinger and Grendel both knew the truth of her parentage.

He couldn’t fall apart when hiskotyonokneeded him most. Forcing himself to keep his eyes closed so he couldn’t see the lid in front of his face, he pulled in several deep breaths and hoped to Christ his team would find them soon.

Breathe through the fear.

Otherwise, he had no idea how long he would last before he gave in to the terror threatening to slowly eat away at him like acid. Once that happened, he’d spiral into a mental breakdown.

Like he’d had in the closet at the orphanage.

Like he’d had in the hole in prison.

“Mia,” he whispered over and over again, his body rocking as much as it could in the tight confines of the box. Repeating her name gave him an anchor, something to clutch in the panicked chaos of his mind.

The question was, for how long?

???

“How the hell are we supposed to make contact with the leader of the Russian Bratva?” Salinger demanded.

“I’m calling Cross.” Chadwick pulled his phone out.

Mia swiped a hand under her nose and sniffled, wishing instant death upon all three men. They were in some kind of office and she sat in a chair in the corner, trying not to cry. She focused her energy on Nik, sending him soothing vibes and the strength he needed to keep it together and hold on.

Help was on its way. The GPS tracker in the phone would bring his team.

Unfortunately, life wasn’t always perfect, so if Nik’s team didn’t drop in to save the day soon, she would have to take matters into her own hands.

Yes, some days the bad guys won.Not today, though,she vowed.

And that meant it was up to her to figure out how to defeat these three evil assholes and save her man. Her attention moved to the gun Chadwick had laid on the desk. It was out of her reach, but if she could get her hands on it…

“We have a problem,” Chadwick announced, presumably to Cross. Whoever he was.Probably a part of The Agency,she surmised. “The Bratva has Zaitsev. How the hell are we supposed to get him back?”

Mia smothered a smirk. At least they had the upper hand for the moment while he was running around on a wild goose chase.

“What?” Chadwick turned his attention to her, eyes narrowing, as he listened to whatever the other man was saying. “Interesting.”

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