It was the truth, as miraculous as it was.
Relief flooded his gorgeous eyes, and she thought he might kiss her again. Until he spotted the bruise on her swollen jaw.
“Ah, baby.” He took extra care to rest his palm against the side of her face. His touch was feather soft, but his next words were positively lethal. “If he’s not already dead, I’ll fucking end him.”
Not already...
“Garrett, what happened?” She glanced at the man standing with Jessica and then the vehicle before bringing her gaze back to his. “Who’s he, and where are the other hostages?”
Before he could answer, the stranger looked at Garrett and said, “Falcon, man…I hate to break up this heartwarming reunion, but we really shouldn’t be out in the open like this.”
“Falcon? “Avery frowned.
A strange look fell over Garrett’s handsome face. With a lick of his lips, he nodded and said, “That’s what my team calls me. I’m Falcon. This is Digger.”
His team? And what kind of names are Falcon and Digger?
Avery’s head swam with a million new questions.
“I don’t…” She shook her head and swallowed hard. “I-I don’t understand. What’s he talking about? What team?”
He gave her a smile that oozed with guilt. “Sweetheart, Digger’s right. We need to get you and Jess the hell out of here before the man who took you realizes you’re gone and decides to come back. I promise, I’ll explain everything later.”
“Okay.” She gave him a slight nod.
After riding back to the warehouse where they’d been held, Avery had helped Jess find her dad. It was a tearful reunion for all, Avery included. Especially when Jess had left her dad’s arms to rush over and give Avery a hug and tell her thank you.
All smiles and happy tears, the hostages were divided between four trucks. Three belonging to the hostage takers, or HTs, as she’d learned they were called, and another utility truck that was there when they’d gotten back to the warehouse.
All four of those vehicles were driven by an entirely different team. Avery had watched them closely as they’d shuffled everyone into their seats, deciding they looked and acted as she’d always imagined a special forces team would. Just like Garrett’s team did.
Garrett has a team.
She still couldn’t wrap her mind around that.
And it wasn’t justanyteam, either. No, it was a group of hot, sexy, badass men who’d flown to the DR, stormed the warehouse, and taken out all the bad guys.
Well, almost all of them.
The man who’d taken her and Jess was still at large, but Garrett and the others had assured her that she and Jess were safe.
Avery wanted to believe him. A few hours before, she would’ve believedanythinghe said.
Now, she wasn’t sure she could trust him at all.
Rather than riding in a truck like the other hostages, Garrett had insisted she ride with him in the SUV, along with the other three men on his team.
Wrapped in a blanket given to her by one of his guys, she sat next to him. He was unusually quiet, only talking when one of his buddies asked him a question. His hand holding hers the entire way, as if he never wanted to let her go.
When they finally made it back to the port at Amber Cove, she and Garrett were greeted with breath stealing hugs from Colt, who looked exhausted and heartsick with worry for his brother.
While the three were talking, Garrett and Avery were asked to go with ship security, along with the other hostages. They were escorted back onto the ship using an entrance normally reserved for employees only.
Once inside, Garrettdidlet her hand go. Right after he explained they were all going to be separated so they could give their official statements to cruise security, members of local authorities, and a man Garrett had introduced to her as his boss.
Three long, grueling hours later, she’d told them everything she knew and then signed a non-disclosure agreement. One promising never to divulge what she knew about Garrett and his team to anyone without direct permission from Rafe Owens, Garrett’s boss.
It wasn’t a hard promise to make since she didn’t really understand most of it, and no one had given her any specific details about who or what Garrett truly was.