Dylan cut the boat’s engine. “It’s better for you if you don’t know.”
“What happens to my family and me? The cartel will slaughter us!”
Dylan knew Paulito’s fear wasn’t irrational. “How would you like to relocate your family to Curaçao—or the US?”
* * *
Gabriela scanned her key card,pushed open the door to their hotel room, and stepped inside, Dylan a step behind her. She had a bag with a change of clothes in her hands, thanks to the US Consulate, which was in touch with the Pentagon and Cobra. She didn’t yet have access to her bank accounts and wouldn’t until she got back to Virginia.
She dropped the bag onto the floor and sat on the bed, drained both physically and emotionally. “I can’t believe it’s over. I kept expecting to end up dead.”
Dylan lowered his battered backpack to the floor and stretched out on the bed beside her, his head propped up on an elbow. “I told you I’d get us home—but I was only able to keep that promise because of you. You saved my life. You saved your own life. You are the bravest, strongest woman I know.”
Gabriela didn’t see how that could be true. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more afraid than when I recognized Ruiz. I was sure he would kill us then and there. And today, when I saw those cigarette boats…” She’d known it had to be the cartel. “What you did, outmaneuvering them on the water, taking out the pilot of the second boat—you did DEVGRU proud out there.”
“Screw DEVGRU.” His gaze went hard for a moment.
That reaction surprised her, but there were so many things on her mind that she let it go. “What happens to us now? What happens to Paulito?”
“Tower will be here tomorrow. We’ll fly back to Miami and—”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “No, what happens tous—to you and me.”
He rolled away, sat up. “I care about you, Gabi, but I’m not good with relationships.”
Her heart seemed to crack, darkness seeping into her chest. “So, we saved each other’s lives, had terrific sex, and that’s it? We say goodbye in Miami and move on.”
“That’s not what I said.”
She sat up, rested her cheek against his shoulder, his body tense. “Please tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Want to hear why I left the Teams?”
She wasn’t sure what this had to do with anything. “Tell me.”
He turned to face her, both of them sitting on the bed. “Being an assaulter, a member of Blue Squadron, meant everything to me. The Team guys—they were my brothers. I would have gone with them into hell. We spent more time with each other than we did anyone else.”
“You must have been very close.”
“I thought so.” His brow furrowed, his gaze dropping. “Most of the guys were married or divorced with kids. I was the single one. I met Valeria at a bar off base. There are women who hang out there every night, hoping to marry Team guys, but I thought she was different. A year later, we were engaged. I had it made. I was an elite warfighter, I had a beautiful fiancée, and the two of us were expecting a baby.”
A baby? He was a father?
What else don’t you know about him?
“That sounds like a good life.”
“One night, the Team went out, got hammered. We’d just gotten home from a deployment and had lost a guy. Everyone was broken up about it. I sent a text to Valeria, telling her I’d need a ride home. One of my buddies was drunk off his ass. He said, ‘She’s not home, man. She’s with Kruger.’”
“Who’s Kruger?”
“He was our squadron commander.”
Oh, God.
Gabriela had a terrible feeling she knew where this story was going.
“I took an Uber to Kruger’s place. Her car was parked in his driveway. I pounded on the door. He answered, tried to lie his way out of it, standing there in his designer bathrobe. I forced my way inside and found Valeria half-naked in his bedroom.”