Page 23 of Saved By the SEAL

“I’m glad to hear you back on board,” Alexander replies with a stern tone of voice. “But how can I know that you’re going to do a good job? You really don’t have any room to fuck up again, Michelle. There can be no more messing around. I need these documents from you. Youhaveto make this happen. I need you to understand what this means.”

“I get it, I get it,” I whisper. “I have too much on the line. I’ll do whatever I can to make it work.”

“Good, you'd better make me proud. This will take the real seductress in you.” He comes closer to me, his breath brushing over my face making me feel a little bit sick, to be honest. “I know you’ve been practicing it with that idiot living with you. So,it isn’t like you’re not going to be able to do this, is it? My little sex kitten. You’re going to be just fine.”

I shudder painfully, half from the patronizing, disgusting name that he just called me, and half from the fact that he somehow knows about me and Jordan. He’s been watching me for a very long time, and much too closely for my liking. All the times that I’ve tricked myself into believing that I’m safe, too many times, when Alexander has had his beady little eyes upon me.

“Tell me that you’re going to be fine.” Alexander stands behind me and sneaks his hands onto my shoulders. They might not be quite wrapped around my throat, but the threat is there and it’s very real. He would happily kill me right now. “I need to hear it.”

“I… I’ll be just fine,” I hiss back. “If my family is on the line, then I’ll find a way to make it happen, Alexander.”

“Good.” His hands move a little closer. He isn’t quite letting me go just yet. I can see him really driving the point home. “That’s what I want to hear. I need a little more from you, Michelle. You have to make up for all the fuck-ups you’ve done.”

“Right, okay, I get it.” He tightens his grip. He’s only just blocking my airways, but because I’m in a terrible state of panic, it’s a million times worse. I claw desperately at his hands, needing him to let the hell go of me already. “I get it, Alexander.”

Finally, he releases me, and I lean forward, gasping for air like there’s no tomorrow. He chuckles gruffly to himself, glad that I’m getting it now, glad that I’m scared enough to do whatever the hell he wants me to do. Whatever it might be.

“Good. Well, Michelle, I really am going to show you around the house now because you’re going to be staying here for the night. For the foreseeable future, actually. I need you where I can keepan eye on you. I don’t want any more shenanigans. Of course, there are tons of cameras and the locks are incredible, so there’s no point in trying to escape.”

“I wouldn’t,” I snap back, knowing that’s exactly what he wants for me. “I wouldn’t do that. Not now.”

“Right, good. Then we can go over the exact details for what I want you to do later on tonight with this case…”

“Tonight?” Yes, the sooner the better, I suppose, but at the same time, I’m nowhere near ready for this.

“Yes. And don’t you worry about only having this drab clothing to wear. I have some items for you.” Of course he does. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “We need this information sooner rather than later. We also need to keep a step up on your man. Although it won’t matter soon. Jordan and Max will end up dead soon enough. They know too much.”

I clutch onto my stomach hard. I don’t want either of the men who have helped me to die. I don’t want Jordan to be killed because of me. I like himsomuch, in so many different ways, and I can’t stand the idea of his being dead. But I can’t argue it with Alexander. That will only make him even more determined to take Jordan down. I just have to remind myself that Jordan was a Navy SEAL, that he and Max both know what they’re doing, so they will probably be fine. Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t put anything past Alexander. He is one cold sonofabitch. But maybe tonight, I can somehow change things.

I don’t know what my plan is yet. I haven’t formed anything in my mind other than to act like I’m willing to submit to everything that Alexander wants from me. When I get a chance and when I can guarantee that my family will be okay, then I’lldo what I can to get myself away. I would love a chance to see Jordan once more to explain what happened, because he’ll likely blame himself for my getting away, but I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.

If Jordan is being watched, then I’ll be putting him in danger by going to him. Both of us, to be honest. I might have to find a way to vanish completely somehow, get away from everyone forever.

19

JORDAN

“Idon’t get why you just fell for this woman’s speech,” Max yells as he flings his hands in the air in frustration. “I don’t know any woman named ‘Kate’ who looks like you have described. I don’t understand anything that you’re telling me.”

“Max, I know that this isn’t great…” I think he’s struggling to accept that he might have been wrong about Michelle. I get it, but his refusing to digest that the world might not be quite what he thought isn’t helping us out right now. “But Kate showed me evidence. Michelle’s father has some important government job, I can’t remember what, exactly, which is what brought her into espionage, and she’s married too. She has lied to us about so much. We can’t trust her. You need to accept this.”

“I can’t.” He shakes his head hard. “I can’t accept it. I’m sorry. I’ve been working with Michelle for a lot longer than you. I know her better. You have always had a distrust of her, haven’t you? Which I think may have clouded your judgment here.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Max, believe me, I’ve been open-minded with Michelle. I liked her a lot.”

He cocks an eyebrow which silences me. Maybe I let a little too much of my passion out there, which I really didn’t mean to do. As much as I want Max to understand me, I don’t need him to know that I was foolish enough to be seduced by Michelle. I can’t let him see how deeply I got sucked into the mess that she’s created here. But I think he gets it anyway.

“Listen…” I need to find a way to overcome that. “Max, Iknowit seems nuts, but everything that Kate told me is true?—”

“Aside from the notion that I’ve halted Russian operations in the past,” he interjects. “Because I might have worked on millions of cases with my men, but none of them have involved anyone from Russia up until now.”

“Well, it could have happened and you didn’t realize it. I don’t know.” I shrug my shoulders helplessly. “I don’t have all the details. If I’d thought about it then, I would have asked Kate for more information, but I didn’t. I didn’t think because it had me all messed up. I don’t like the idea of protecting the enemy. It makes me feel really sick. I can’t stand it. I didn’t fight in the military to protect Americans just to come back and work against my own country. It doesn’t feel right.”

Max’s eyes darken. I can practically see the cogs ticking in his head. He’s trying to digest this and accept it, but it’s hard for him. He can’t take it. He doesn’t like being wrong. I’m beyond the point of caring about his ego now. He needs to understand.

“I’ll look into what you’re saying,” he finally replies with a serious nod. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Good, thank you.” Relief floods me. This is what I’ve been wanting from him. Just the belief that I might be right.

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