Page 65 of Rescuing Tobias

The words shattered a little bit of the tension, and both Teresa and Ava giggled. Josiah as always was ignoring the rest of them as his fingers flew with lightning speed across his keyboard.

Arching a brow at him, Raven waited for him to make his choice.

Stop sulking, letting his anger take over, and focus on what was important, or she’d remove him from the situation.

No way was that happening, so there wasn't really any choice.

There wasn't a chance in hell he was leaving this room until they had a lead on Isabella’s location. And even then, he’d be leaving only to go with whatever team was assigned to rescue her.

Bad idea for his back or not, he intended to be there when his girl was saved, and if after that she told him she no longer trusted him to be part of her life and that of their child, then and only then would he walk away. He’d go back to his original plan of supporting them financially but not playing an active role in raising their baby.

“What's it going to be, Tobias?” Raven asked. “I don’t want to kick you out, but I will for both your benefit and Isabella’s. I better than anyone else in this room understands what it’s like to have someone you love snatched away from you.”

For a second, he thought of reminding everyone—himself included—that he wasn't in love with Isabella. There hadn't been enough time for those kinds of feelings to develop, they didn't know one another well enough to claim that sort of depth to their connection.

But none of that was entirely true.

While there hadn't been enough time for them to fall in love, the connection he felt to Isabella had been almostinstantaneous, and nothing like anything else he’d experienced before. It reminded him of the stories his dad used to tell about what it was like when he’d first met his wife. As a child, Tobias had loved those stories of what his mom had been like back then. It had always felt like a true love story. One for the ages.

That’s what it felt like with Isabella. That given enough time, they could fall in love and have the picture-perfect life. Already they were standing right at the beginning of that journey, but the only way for them to continue down that path was for him to pull himself together and stop being a distraction to his team.

“Sorry I brought up Cleo. That was a low blow,” he said, knowing it was true. He’d allowed his anger and terror to lash out at someone who had been nothing but supportive of him the entire time he’d known her. Throwing at her the worst time of her life and trying to wield it as a weapon was completely unacceptable.

“It’s not okay, but I get it. That kind of fear is impossible to describe to anyone who hasn’t experienced it firsthand. Can I take the apology as you saying you're good to stay?”

“I'm good to stay,” he confirmed. It wasn't a matter of if he could keep his anger under control, it was that hehadto.

If he didn't, it was Isabella and their baby who would pay the price.

Working against his team was wasting time. Time Isabella didn't have. Time that had to be spent finding where she’d been taken.

One thing he was absolutely certain of was that Isabella wasn't going to give up. She hadn't before when she’d been held for seven months, and now she had even more of a reason to keep fighting.

If she wasn't going to give up then he couldn’t either.

Isabella was going to do everything within her power to keep herself and her baby alive, and he prayed that she still hadenough faith left in him to know that he would move heaven and earth to find her.

Didn't matter if she already hated him for failing and not stopping her from being abducted. She and their baby had to live long and healthy lives. Even if he didn't get to be part of those lives, his was inextricably tied to theirs.

Either all three of them made it through this nightmare or none of them would.

Because there was no way he could survive the guilt and shame of failing the people he cared about the most if they lost their lives because of his pathetic failures.

April 26th

7:39 P.M.

“Good,you're awake and on your feet.”

Isabella froze halfway back to her bed to see that the door to their room had been opened and there was a guard standing there.

It wasn't one she had ever seen before, but then again, that made sense. All the men who had been guarding them before had been taken into custody by Tobias and the SEAL team. With the single exception of her least favorite guard.

She could only hope that these men were a little more professional and kept their hands off her and the other nurses.

But that was probably hoping for too much. These men were monsters, it was the only explanation for why they’d be there to begin with. They cared more about money than they did about human life, and they had no problem getting rough to get their way. Or just for fun if that was their thing.

While she’d love to take her same stand as last time, that they’d have to fight hard to gain her compliance, she also knew that she might be able to withstand their beatings, but her baby might not. Not that she could immediately just act all meek and mild, that would be too big a giveaway that something was off with her. These men would be expecting resistance from her, and if she didn't give it, they’d know something was wrong and figure out what it was.

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