Page 24 of Protected By the SEAL

“I’m waiting for Benji.” I fold my arms stubbornly over my chest. “You already know that I won’t go without him.”

There’s a funny look in her eyes which causes my stomach to flip-flop. They seriously better not have arrested him or I’ll lose my shit. They will unleash a demon in me that there’s no way they can be prepared for. I’m usually a calm person, but years of frustration and aggression might well come out if they push me. I might well become a fucking monster.

“Cassie.” Oh, my God, was that him? I jump around and find my eyes connecting with the one person I need to see, who I want to see more than anyone else in the world. “Oh, God, Cassie, you’re here. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

I don’t know why he’s asking me this when he’s the one who seems far more beaten up than me. But of course, he always puts me first. I race across the room with tears flowing down my cheeks again, and I throw my arms around him. I kiss him again like there’s no tomorrow, I kiss him like we’ve been apart for months rather than hours because that’s kind of how I feel.

I don’t even think about how this might look in front of the police. I really don’t give a shit. I just want him.

“Oh, my God, I didn’t think I was going to see you again,” I gasp as we pull apart for just a second. “Are you okay?”

“I am.” He smiles softly as he tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Let’s get out of here. We need to gather our stuff out of the motel. I don’t know what’s left because it’s a crime scene, but we have to gather up what we can.”

I nod silently since I don’t care where we go as long as we’re together, and I willingly head outside the police station. It isn’t until we’re out in the parking lot that Benji turns to me to talk to me a little more, to fill me in.

His face is serious, which makes my spine bolt up higher. This had better not be one of those twists where everything seems amazing just for it to rapidly slide downhill once more. I don’t know if I can handle that once more.

“Max was helping us the entire time,” Benji informs me. “He was the one who got the cops to us. I’ve spoken to him now and let him know that we’re alive. He’s going to let your family know, which I’m sure will be a massive weight off your shoulders.” I nod emphatically. I need them to know that after everything, I’ve made it out. “And he’s been working with the police to ensure that they know everything, which is why I got out faster than I would have done otherwise.”

“Thank goodness.” I chuckle. “I was starting to get very worried that you were going to end up locked up for saving me.”

“But it isn’t all good news,” he informs me, a little sheepishly, if I’m honest. “Although there isn’t a ransom threat any longer because you’re safe and the gang members are going to be locked away, the video was still sent out.”

I gasp as it hits me. There’s no escape from all of this, even if I’m out. “Has it been on TV already? Has it been seen?”

“I think so,” Benji admits. I can see how much he hates saying this because he knows how much it’s going to crush me. “Max attempted to get it all under control, but it was too much of a news story, you know, because of who your father is…”

I bob my head up and down, nodding as if I understand what’s going on, but honestly, I’m in a tailspin. If the video did make it out into the world, then things really will change for me in the worst way possible. I’m not going to be able to find happinessand privacy again. Everything is going to be whipped away from me and I’ll be left floating.

“It’s okay,” Benji declares to me as I bend forward and gasp for air with a need to fill my lungs once more. “It’s okay, don’t worry. We will find a way to get through it. We will find a way to get through everything, I promise you that much.”

But there might not be a ‘we’ anymore. Our lives might well be heading in different directions, and then I’ll be alone. Can I deal with this alone? I really don’t know…

21

BENJI

Cassie is quiet. She’s been quiet ever since I first told her about the video, and there’s nothing I can do to make it better for her. All I want to do is drag that pain out of her body, but I can’t. I don’t stand a chance anymore. If Max had managed to get to it sooner, there’s something that we might have been able to do to make it go away, but it’s too late for that now.

“This place is a mess,” I declare with a deep sigh as we see the motel at last. “Those guys really did a number on it.”

“Whoa.” Instantly, Cassie’s eyes fill with tears. “Oh, my God, this is horrible. What happened? Do you know more? Did anyone die in there? Anyone other than the gang members, I mean. Did the cops tell you anything? They wouldn’t give me anything at all, no matter how much I asked. It was a fucking nightmare. They were really doing my head in. They weren’t helpful at all.”

“They didn’t give me anything in particular, no.” I shake my head. “Even with Max on my side, it’s all very much on a need to know basis. All they really said to me was that we can only go in our room to get our things. That’s it.”

“I don’t want to see the rest of it, anyway.” A visible shudder tears down Cassie’s spine. “I don’t want to know. This is a trauma. I just… I can’t believe that we were a part of it, that I was the cause of it. I don’t think I’ll ever recover from that.”

I feel for her. I get what she’s talking about. I know my first scene of destruction was really hard for me. I didn’t sleep for weeks afterward because it kept flooding my nightmares. It didn’t get any easier, if I’m honest, but there are times when it becomes a part of daily life. There are times when it’s worse than others. Unfortunately, I don’t have any comforting words for her. I keep opening and closing my mouth, attempting to find the right words to say, but nothing comes out. I probably just look like a fucking useless goldfish with nothing to give her. I hate being this useless, and this is hopeless. It sucks.

“Come on.” I reach out and take her hand, but it doesn’t feel the same as usual. She’s off, distant. Maybe even a little cold. It’s probably just this place, though, isn’t it? The trauma that lies within these walls. “Let’s get this done nice and fast.”

With our heads down, we head straight toward the room. I’m on edge as I open the door because I don’t know what we’re going to find inside. Thankfully, it seems like there isn’t too much destruction inside. I guess we burst out at the right moment, which means no one bothered to go into our room. It isn’t like the rest of the motel. We can get this done with ease.

Cassie gets to work quickly and I do the same thing. I pack up the items in my bag, thinking about how different my life was back when I first took this backpack from Max. So much has changed within me, which I can’t believe. I didn’t know I could change that much, and it’s all because ofher. As soon as I saw that photo of her and I felt something, I knew that she would be special, butI had no idea how much she was going to impact on me. I had no idea that I would lose myself like this.

I watch her out the corner of my eye, admiring how beautiful she is. Even right now with the weight of the world on her shoulders, she looks amazing, heart-stopping, eye-catching. I could spend the rest of my life watching her. I’m pretty sure that she feels the same way as well, but until we talk about it, I suppose I’ll never know. Unfortunately, right now is emotional enough without my dragging up any other emotions. We need to focus ourselves on the task at hand. We just need to get our shit together and get out of here. The less time we spend in this place, the better it will be for the pair of us.

“Do you need help with anything?” I ask Cassie in an attempt to shatter the silence. “Is everything okay? Areyoualright?”

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