“We’ll listen for your approach.”
With that, Mustang and the others disappeared down the hall as they began their trek back to the beach. For the next several minutes, Beckett spent some quality time with Rahal, giving him a more thorough field triage before escorting him into the kitchen to get something to eat.
Once their hostage finished his sandwich and chips…along with two large glasses of crystal-clear water, the billionaireexcused himself to shower and change before the flight back to the mainland.
Beckett was standing in front of the sink finishing off his own offered glass of water when Falcon’s concerned voice pulled his attention away.
“Holy shit, dude!” His teammate rushed over to his side. “Were you hit?”
“What?” He frowned. “No, I’m not?—”
“Your suit.” Falcon reached up and began messing with the material at the side of Beckett’s neck. “Sure as shit looks like a bullet hole to me.”
What the…
Beckett set the glass back down onto the counter before lifting his hand to the exact same spot. Beneath his fingertips, he could feel the area Falcon had referenced.
Holy shit.
A small, almost perfectly round hole had been torn clear through the section of his wetsuit covering the left side of his neck. His pulse spiked as he spun on his heels, immediately scanned the immediate area in search of the nearest mirror.
He remembered seeing several throughout the areas of the mansion he and his teammates had covered. Surely there was one around here somepla?—
There!
He took off, his dive boots smacking loudly against the tile with every purposeful step.
From behind, Falcon hollered after him with a confused, “Hey! Where the hell are you going?”
But Beckett didn’t hear his teammate. Or maybe he did, and he was simply blocking him out. Either way, it didn’t matter. Right now, his entire focus was on getting a look at the damage to his suit.
He came to a casual seating area located a few yards from the kitchen’s open exit. Beckett’s movements were swift as he passed between a pair of twin couches, both pieces of furniture facing one another from their position in front of an impressive brick fireplace.
Centered high above the structure’s heavily polished mantle was one of the biggest mirrors Beckett had ever seen. His image appeared as he came to a stop directly in front of it, as did Falcon’s, who stood a few feet behind.
He sucked in a quick breath when he got his first real look at where the bullet had struck. His hand went back to that spot as his feet slowly carried him forward, inching him closer and closer until he had no other choice but to stop.
“Damn, brother.” Falcon’s tone was somber as he kept a respectable distance. “I’d say that was about as close as it can get.”
Beckett used the reflection for a closer inspection, moving the slightly gaped material between his forefinger and thumb. The projectile had gone clean through both sides of the suit, searing the neoprene mere centimeters from the base of his neck.
It was one of the very few places where the wetsuit wasn’t flush with his skin. And if that bullet had hit just a few centimeters the other direction…
I’d have already bled out all over the fancy tiled floor.
He’d be dead. Fucking dead. As in no longer walking the face of this earth. His parents would be utterly gutted; the team would mourn his loss, and Evie…
She never would have even known I loved her.
That realization, above all others, left his head spinning damn near beyond comprehensible thought. He’d been so sure holding back his true feelings was the right call. Damn it, he hadn’t wanted to scare her away when he’d finally found theperson he knew deep down—heknew—he was meant to be with for the rest of his life.
Evie was smart. Funny. Sexy as hell with curves that drove him mad with need. But even more than that, she was sweet, selfless, and had the biggest heart he’d ever known.
Yet, despite the massive blows life had recently thrown her way, the woman hadn’t let them break her. It wasn’t as if her abduction and captivity hadn’t happened, nor was the bullshit with the man who’d pretended to be her father something anyone should ever have to face.
But she had. Evie had faced both himandthose Taliban assholes with courage, strength, and an unwillingness to surrender. She was, in essence, the absolute perfect woman for him.
A partner he could count on and trust. A future he wasn’t wasting another minute waiting to begin.