Page 90 of Operation Heartbeat

“Any problems with your vision?”

“No.” She had seen all too clearly the look on her captor’s face when he struck her. He enjoyed hurting her.

“What’s your name?”

“Sydney Edgars.”

Con made a noise in his throat. “That’s the fake name we used in the hotel and at the party.”

She issued a short chuckle. “It’s Sophie.”

“Do you know who this guy behind you is?” Matthews gently swabbed the gauze over the cut to clean the clotted blood away.

“The man that I love.” She didn’t even realize that she’d blurted the words in her head until she looked up from Matthews’s face to see all the men wearing stupid grins.

“Jesus.” Con’s gritty voice washed over her ear. She felt him bury his face in her hair.

Did she care who knew her feelings? Not anymore. She’d been kidnapped and beaten. She could have gone to her grave without anyone knowing how she felt about Ryan. She wasn’t about to ever let that happen.

He covered her hand with his bigger one, and she relaxed at the feel of his warm, rough fingers. Drawing strength from his presence.

After Matthews moved from the cut on her hairline to the one on her cheek, she felt much more herself. Some of the fear that had knotted her up was fading as she realized she was safe.

“You probably have a mild concussion. Lots of rest and minimal screen time.” Matthews flicked his stare upward at Con behind her as if daring him to challenge the medical advice.

“She’s not going to be working for a while.”

She had so much to do still. So much work on those cryptograms. “If I don’t get back to work, people are going to die. If I hadn’t seen that image of you in the photo, Cipher could have reached you before I could warn you.”

“Cipher?”

She blinked. Nobody knew what had really happened.

Before she could explain, Con cut across her. “When you’re ready, you’ll debrief. Your only job right now is to let Matthews patch you up and then we’re going to make sure you eat something.”

“Okay.”

Not one man left during the time Matthews worked. The cut on her cheek required a butterfly bandage and he said one of her molars was loose, but he thought it would heal fine.

“Are you finished?” Con tightened his hold on her.

“Yes.”

“Somebody fix food for Sophie. Soup. I’m going to take her to the shower.” Without warning, Con circled her and lifted her in his arms as gently as if she was made of vintage glass.

“Don’t get those bandages wet,” Matthews called out to his back as he swept out of the kitchen with her cradled in his arms.

“Con, this isn’t necessary. I can walk.”

“We’re doing this my way, Sophie.”

He carried her to the bathroom and started the shower. Steam began to fill the space as he stripped her. A dark blue bruise splotched her arm where it had dug into the back of the chair she’d been tied to.

He trailed his fingers alongside it, careful not to touch it. His dark brows were drawn downward in a sharp V.

“Con.”

He lifted his gaze to hers. She reached up and slipped her hand around his nape, drawing him close. A shiver racked her.

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