Page 32 of Saved By the SEAL

“What are you talking about?” Landon sounds nervous now, like I might be losing my mind. “Who the hell is Kate?”

“She’s the one who told me all about Michelle’s family.” Oh, no, was that a lie too? Wait, no, didn’t Max find out that some of that was the truth? Holy hell, now I’m really confused. “But it might not have been the truth. I don’t know anymore. She might not have even been American, to be honest. Michelle was great at putting on the accent, and she might have been too.”

“Right… I see. So, we should get out of here now. If there is nothing else for you to do here…”

“No, Landon, we need to find Michelle,” I insist. “If she isn’t the one who shot me, then she’s in trouble somewhere. I have to find her. I need to find out where the Russians took her and what they have done to her. You need to help me.”

“No way.” Landon shakes his head hard. “I’m not going along with that. Max doesn’t trust her, so we can’t do that.”

“It doesn’t matter. Max doesn’t understand what’s going on here. What about my instincts? He trusted me before and wouldnow do the same thing again. He would if he knew about this. I was trusted to take care of her. That was my job, and I can’t just let her die. Has anyone that you have ever been tasked to take care of died? No, and you would hate it.”

“But if I let you go, then you might die. Don’t forget I’m supposed to be in charge of you right now. You can’t do this.”

I won’t listen to Landon. I really don’t care right now. I know that I came here for a reason, and the reason was to realize that Michelle isn’t the bad guy here, but instead, the person who needs saving. I might have been the one who was shot, but she’s the one who needs me now. I have to run to her, even if I don’t know where I’m going. I have to save her.

I’m in charge of her. Her life is in my hands, but it’s also because I’m pretty sure that I’m in love with her. This has all heightened everything and made me realize that I might just love her more than I would normally admit. I love her and want her alive. I want her to survive even if I don’t. She is so fucking important to me that I can’t not help her.

“I’mnotletting you go.” Landon grabs onto me hard. “I can’t allow you to do this. This is dangerous.”

“I know, but sometimes, things are more complicated than that. I need to help Michelle.”

“Oh, my God, you love her.” Landon’s grip loosens just a little bit. “I can see it in your eyes. You love her.”

I can’t deny this to Landon, not when it’s clearly written all over me. He might go back to Max with this information and cause me to lose everything, but I’m over the edge now. I’ve lost my mind and there’s no going back.

“Landon, I need to save Michelle. You don’t understand. I have to save her wherever she is. I don’t expect you to come with me if you don’t want to. I know this is wild and dangerous, and I know Max will kill me, but I have to. I have to.”

It takes a couple of moments, but Landon finally relents. Thankfully, he gets what I mean and that there’s no turning back from this. He nods and lets me run off from him. I don’t know whether he’s coming with me or not, but it doesn’t matter.

“Jordan?”

Oh, my God. I really must be losing my fucking mind right now. There is nowaythat this is happening. I don’t know what has caused this crazy vision, but I’m loving it. It’s Michelle and she is running toward me.

“Jordan, oh, my God.”

I open my arms wide and wait for her to come racing into them. She slams against me, and I wrap my arms around her to hold her tight. I don’t know what’s real and what’s invented in my head, but holding on to her feels good. So good. This isn’t the version of Michelle that I remember so well. She’s in the crazy, sexy things the Russians gave her, and she’s messy and shaking, crying. This is a weird version of the happy reunion that I would like, but it feels nice.

“Holy shit, what the hell is happening here?” Landon snaps, breaking the magic of the moment. “Is that her?”

I pull back to stare at my brand-new friend, wondering what this means. If he can see Michelle too, then maybe this is really happening. That’s insane. Somehow, fate has dragged us both away from danger and back together once more.

“This is Michelle.” I show her to Landon. “She’s here. We don’t need to go anywhere. She’s here and safe.”

“Is anyone following you?” Landon glances behind her. “Should we be worried about this?”

“I don’t know. I ran away. I don’t think anyone is chasing me, though. But I don’t think we should stay here long because this is the first place they might come looking for me, if that’s what they want.”

“Then why the hell did you come here?” Landon snaps. “Why didn’t you go anywhere else?”

“Because I needed to find Jordan. I needed to be back with him. I can’t be without him.”

We lock eyes, and I feel the love surging between us, the feelings that we share but haven’t yet found a way to vocalize. But hopefully, at some point, we will. If we get out of this alive, that is…

26

MICHELLE

I’m dead, I have to be,I try to remind myself as some guy takes us to Jordan’s home and hopefully away from where anyone can find us. Although I suppose I might not be dead, that might well be a bit extreme. I could just be sleeping or knocked out. All I know for sure is that this can’t be real because Katya shot Jordan. She killed him and is after Max next.

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