Page 75 of Protecting Maggie
They stood like that, plastered together as the rain fell around them, for two solid minutes. Then the vow Preacher made to protect her kicked in, and he turned. Heneeded to get her under cover, and not only because of the rain. The last thing he wanted was one of the soldiers spotting them. They’d been lucky enough to escape once. Preacher didn’t think that would be allowed to happen again.
Maggie lifted her head as he carried her toward where the others were huddled in their makeshift shelter, and she studied him. “Your eye,” she whispered.
“It’s fine. Once the swelling goes down it won’t look so bad,” he told her. “The tape—you got it out of your hair,” he blurted, noticing that the duct tape that had been wrapped around her head was gone.
“The rain got it really wet, and I was able to work it out,” she told him with a shrug.
“Are you all right?” Preacher asked with a frown. “What happened? What took so long for you to get here? Are you hurt? Did they see you?”
To his amazement, Maggie chuckled.
How the hell was she laughing? He had no idea. After everything she’d been through, she was in his arms fuckinglaughing. It was a miracle.Shewas a miracle.
“Could you have asked any more questions right in a row?” she asked.
“Yes. I have a million more, but those are the most pressing at the moment,” he told her, stopping in front of the small shelter. “Need you to let go so I can get you inside.”
Her legs slid from around him and she stood. He helped her crawl under the piece of tin and out of the rain,then cupped her cheeks. He held her gently, staring at her precious face. Her hair was plastered against her head, she had a nasty-looking scrape on one cheek and dark circles under her eyes, but she was here. In his arms. Alive. He’d never been so thankful for anything in all his life.
“I love you.” The words came out more as an exclamation than a tender declaration of love.
Her eyes widened as she gripped his wrists tightly. “What?”
“I love you.” This time Preacher had more control over the words. “You amaze me. I’m in awe of you. I love everything about you. Your tenacity, your strength, your compassion, your ability to do what’s needed no matter what the situation. I haven’t done a very good job of having your back, but that changes now. When we get back to California, he’s goingdown. You’ll stay with me so I can keep you safe. I’ll get whoever I need to involved to make sure he doesn’t hurt you ever again.”
“Shawn,” Maggie said. It was hard to tell if the water on her face was tears or raindrops, but it didn’t matter.
“I mean it. I made a mistake in not believing you immediately. I’ll never make that mistake again. If you tell me the sky is green and the grass is blue, I’ll fight anyone who says differently.”
“I understand why you had concerns,” she said, letting him off the hook.
But Preacher didn’t want to be absolved of his sins. “No,” he said with a firm shake of his head. “You had no reason to lie about who your ex was. I was just so surprised,I wasn’t thinking clearly.” He ran a hand over her head, squeezing out some of the water from her hair. “I can’t believe that asshole had the balls to have me and my SEAL team deliver those crates. If he thinks we’re going to just let this go, he’s dead wrong. That last mission, and this one, he’s misappropriated government property. Sending us on unnecessary missions is not only an asshole move, it’s fucking illegal. And let’s not forget kidnapping and attempted murder.”
“It’s not going to be easy to put the blame on him. He wasn’t the one who showed up at my door. He didn’t put me in that crate. And he didn’t physically fly the plane.”
“Wrong. The list of people who could’ve gotten you on that plane, inside a crate being sent to the Ukraine on aSEALmission, is tiny. He’s fucked himself. He’s done, Maggie.”
She sighed and leaned forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder. Tenderness swamped Preacher. He’d seen her as a stoic pillar of strength, but at the moment, he could feel that she was finally at the end of her rope.
“Shawn?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you too,” she said with a shy smile.
Everything within Preacher shifted at hearing the words. He hadn’t told her about his feelings so she’d feel obligated to reciprocate. But now that she had? His entire life changed in that instant.
It was weird how just having a roof over her head, the man she loved, and their little group all together once more, made the last few hours seem not quite as scary as they actually had been. When she’d first arrived at the rendezvous point, Artem had held out a tin full of water to her, and rainwater had never tasted better. Amazingly, even though there was no food, the water went a long way toward making her belly feel full.
Shawn held her against him, keeping her warm, and she felt safe. It was ridiculous really, because none of them were really safe. But the gray afternoon skies, the fog in the air, and the sound of the rain hitting the tin roof gave the illusion of hiding out in a cozy nook. It was enough to make Maggie relax for a short while. To forget that she was in a foreign country on the other side of the world from California. To forget the man who’d put her there would surely do whatever was necessary to make her permanently disappear next time.
For now, she was content to give Shawn her weight as they exchanged information about what had happened while they were apart. She listened with bated breath as MacGyver told the story of how they’d escaped the church, and how Artem had led them through the city to this little hideaway in the countryside.
Now it was Maggie’s turn to tellherstory.
Knowing Shawn wasn’t going to like what she’d been through, she did her best to downplay the entire thing. “I stood up from behind the rubble I was using as cover, and the soldiers near the church saw me immediately. Theyshouted and I ran. I think most of the guys who were guarding you two came after me, which was the plan. It took a while, but I lost them. I got turned around though, so I wandered for a bit before finally seeing a building that looked familiar. And…here I am.”
“No,” Shawn said sternly. “I want to hear it all. Therealdetails this time.”
