Page 108 of Recurve Ridge

“Mari, it’s time you got your wish.” I forced the bitter seeds into a semblance of sweetness, coating them in a lure of honey. “Freedom.”

She struggled in my arms, tangling herself into a knot between us in her panic. “What? No. I want… I want to stay,” she whispered, the admission widening her eyes in shock.

I smiled, knowing how weak it had to look from the outside. “Get dressed. Take your time. Anything you need. Then come out. We’ll be waiting.”

Mari stiffened. I swallowed hard, extracting myself from her embrace, Jon mirroring my jerky movements.

* * *

“You said take your time.But you could have specified,” Alan rasped forty minutes later, holding his face between his hands.

The shower had turned on and then off, and we hadn’t heard a thing from her since. I was seconds from ripping the door off its hinges and getting on my knees for her when the damn thing opened and she crept out, her arms wrapped around herself. She was wearing one of those damn sundresses she loved, regardless if it was fucking snowing outside or not, and a knitted pink thing that hung to the hem so she appeared naked beneath.

Will looked on the verge of swooning or bending a knee himself, and I didn’t blame him in the least.

“Ready to talk, Mari?” How many times had I said those words and in how many other versions?

She nodded, her gaze skating about the cabin, lighting on each man, even meeting Miller’s rage-fueled gaze and holding her own without flinching.

My brave fucking girl.

Jon broke from his position near the door to slide in behind her, linking his arms around her waist. She sighed and closed her eyes, and I took that as my signal to start.

“You need to see a doctor, a real team who can help you heal. The right way. I’ve kept you from that long enough. I don’t want to send you away,” I reassured her. “You can come back after, if that’s what you want.”

Please let her come back to me. To us.

Mari nodded and said nothing.

“We need to know who you are from your own lips. I know we’ve been through this, and I know that we already know. But now I need the words.” I needed it recorded, as evidence, and Alan was ready with all the right hardware.

“Tell us who he is to you. We can’t send you back to your own world if we can’t protect you.” Jon’s eyes held the same unspoken plea as mine, though she only looked at me.

“He’s a CEO,” Mari started, and I knew she’d already thought the words up, turned them into something that would betray no one but herself. Who knew how many times she’d rehearsed the part? “I am—was—his PA. Personal assistant,” she added, sneaking a quick glance at Alan. “You know that. But my home… my life there, it isn’t?—”

Her brow dipped. We’d spent weeks,monthstelling her that she had to stay for her own safety, and here we were, throwing her into the lion’s den. I knew what that looked like, and I had a solution. But first, I needed something from her.

Silence fell in the room.

“Stay here,” Will piped up, his enthusiasm overflowing, as always.

“Ignore him.” Jon curled a hand around the curve of her shoulder in an intimate gesture that belied his words.

None of us could bear to push her further. Mari’s strength and resilience were a blessing in themselves. I doubted I could have been as courageous in her place. And for that, I would worship her in any way she wanted. I wiped my face clean of emotion as she cast a speculative glance my way.

“If you go back, you won’t have a job, and you’ll have to move. You can’t be you, not anymore. If he’s in a politician’s pocket, then he can use those connections and pull to create problems. Will’s right.” My voice cracked, and the boys laughed. Mari managed a small, sweet smile. “You would be safer here.” I paraphrased my ex-junior officer’s words and ignored the startled glance the young soldier shot my way.

“I’ll be fine.” Mari waved a hand as though walking back into that viper’s den would be a simple thing.

I clenched my teeth and didn’t bother to fake a smile.

“You won’t be fine, Mari.” Jon tipped her head back and kissed the tip of her nose. “What they did to you is inexcusable. Unforgivable. It needs to be dealt with.”

She looked up at the gentle giant of a man with such trust that had he been anyone else, I might have attacked him for stealing her attention.

“It does need to be dealt with,” I agreed, catching her fingers to hold her hand in mine, memorizing the heat of her. “Why are you scared of going to the authorities, Mari?”

Her eyes flared wide as she started, and for a long moment, I expected her to deny it. Then she shook her head.

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