He’d been self-assured enough that she knew he didn’t consider the life he lived as a betrayal of anything. More likely, Luca was one of those hero types who thought every mission was to right all the wrongs in the world and restore the balance of justice.
As if that was how the world worked.
Still, she had to admit that, without people like him, the world would be a pretty sorry place.
“Dr. Yassan?” Simon, one of their nurses who was originally from Australia, stuck his head around the curtain.
Kira tried to pretend he hadn’t startled her out of her skin. “What is it?”
“Dr. Chen is bringing in a family. All of them have fevers and nausea.”
“I’ll be right there.” She checked the file transfer and saw it was complete, copied the files to a password-protected drive that only belonged to her, and attached everything to an email she left in her draft folder.
Kira pulled out the flash drive, then tucked it into her pocket, leaving the surgical area and stepping back into the main room. Luca was still unconscious, this soldier with his ropey arms and thick chest. Dark hair that was short and fell over his forehead in a way that begged her to brush it back and made her wonder what it would look like long and in need of cutting.
As if her life would ever be conducive to a relationship. But then, that was the entire point of being here. Because it was as far from the person she had been in the Western world as she could get. Out here in the forgotten places of the world, giving all her sweat and tears to people that no one else seemed to care about.
She pretended to adjust his bandage, then wandered around the bed so she would be close to his pocket in order to return the flash drive. She glanced around again, ensuring no one was watching her, and slipped the flash drive back into the folds of his dark cargoes.
His hand whipped up and grasped her wrist. Those strong fingers squeezed the fine bones in her hand. “Who do you work for?”
She loosened her grip on the flash drive, moving her hand away from his pocket. He didn’t let go of her wrist. Those dark eyes of his bored into her. She wanted to tell him everything. Just open her mouth and unburden her soul on someone—anyone. But he wouldn’t understand.
“Answer the question.”
“I’m not your enemy.” She forced the words from her mouth, trying to figure out how to explain this without incriminating herself.
His dark gaze assessed her, just a hint of betrayal in his eyes. And why would that be? They didn’t even know each other. They wouldn’t ever see each other again.
“Saxon!” Someone called out from by the entrance.
The other three men on his team rushed into the tent, moving fast. The one in front with the light-brown beard covering the bottom half of his face came first. The leader of this team. “Gotta go, we have incoming.”
The man’s gaze swept across Saxon holding her wrist.
A second later, she had been released. Saxon sat up on the bed and swung his boots onto the floor. She wanted to step forward, help him steady himself as he stood. He’d lost a lot of blood and hadn’t eaten anything. But instead of supporting him, she folded her arms across her chest. She had what she wanted, and now it was time for him to leave.
Outside the front entrance of the tent, gunfire sounded in quick succession.
All four of the men shifted, a deadly intention overwhelming their body language.
“We can’t get out that way,” one of the men said. “They’ll kill us before we even step into the light.”
Kira cleared her throat. “You can leave out the back, if you want.”
Her patient turned to her. “And walk right into unfriendly fire?”
“I told you I wasn’t your enemy.” She lifted her hands, palms up, and then let them fall back to her sides. “I’m just a doctor.”
Saxon’s gaze narrowed, the skin around his eyes contracting. “You can’t expect me to believe that.”
“I don’t think you have time for anything else.” Kira lifted her chin.
The team leader tugged on Saxon’s good arm. “Let’s go.”
He clearly didn’t want to, but he complied with the instruction from his boss. The group of four men moved to the rear of the tent, where they would find the back exit. He didn’t even look back. None of them did.
A second after they disappeared behind the curtain, two men strode into the medical tent. Rifles across their bodies and sweat-soaked hair on their foreheads. She knew the type. Had seen them in the shadows every day since she got here. The kind of men who showed up when danger happened and capitalized on the suffering of others.