Page 25 of Protecting Bree
“Me too. I’ve loved meeting everyone today, but I have to admit I can’t wait to get to know your teammates’ women better. They’re closer to my age, and while it’s obvious Caroline and the others have a lot of experience with life in general, I want to get to know Josie, Remi, Wren, and all the others more, because they’re your best friends’ best friends. If that makes sense.”
“It does,” Smiley said, feeling a warmth spread throughout his body. This woman, she constantly surprised and awed him. She’d been dealt a shitty hand, and yet she was still gracious and kind. He would protect that at all costs.
She smiled at him, then followed Fiona and Julie out the sliding glass door to the deck behind the house. They got settled into chairs and began to talk.
CHAPTER SIX
“With the way your man is watching you, I have a feeling we don’t have all day to chat,” Fiona said with a grin.
Bree looked toward the doors and saw Smiley standing where she’d left him. His gaze was fixed on her. She gave him a small smile, letting him know everything was fine, then turned back toward the two women sitting with her.
Julie Hurt was a tiny woman. Probably not too much above five feet tall, and slender to boot. Fiona Knox was tall, maybe just a couple inches shorter than Smiley. Both women had flawless skin and little wrinkles next to their eyes that made Bree assume they laughed a lot. They seemed happy and healthy, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
But Bree knew better. Knew the face people showed to the world could mask a lot of hurt in their past.
“I’ll start. I don’t know what you’ve been told about what happened to us,” Julie said.
Bree shook her head. “Just that you were bothkidnapped and brought south of the border, with the intent of being sold into the sex slavery industry.”
“That sounds so clinical,” Fiona mused, taking a large swallow of wine.
“I’m sorry, I?—”
“No, don’t be sorry,” Fiona interrupted quickly. “I just meant, that’s right. That’s exactly what happened, but it’s kinda like saying a hurricane is a little storm. Or a tornado is a little wind.” She took a deep breath. “Right, so…I was taken when I was in a club by myself in Florida. I was there on vacation. I was chained to the floor of a hut for my ‘training period.’ When I refused to do what my captors wanted, they drugged me. I mean, I guess they were drugging me before that, but they turned up the pressure big time. Denying me food, letting me sit in my own filth, raping me, chaining me to the floor by my neck…you name it, they did it. But I still refused to do what they wanted. I wasn’t going to make it easy for them to sell me to some pervert for his sexual pleasure. I was determined to fight them the entire way.”
“And then I entered the picture,” Julie said, picking up the story. “I was raped as well, but unlike Fiona, I immediately did everything they told me to do. Ultimately, it didn’t make them treat me any better. I was only there for five days or so, while Fiona was there for months. Thankfully, my father had connections and was able to hire a SEAL team to rescue me. And they found Fiona, as well. We had to hike through the jungle, which, I’ll be honest,sucked, but we got out of there. And I was a total bitch—to Fiona. To Cookie. To all the guys. Thankfully, they eventually let me apologize to them, thank them, and I met Patrick.”
The food Bree had eaten sat like a rock in her belly. She hated hearing what these two women had been through. It seemed so…unreal. Especially while sitting on the deck of this beautiful house, sipping wine, listening to the birds chirp in the trees and watching the first signs of the sun starting to set.
“I think what you need to know, to truly understand, is that we’re here. We made it. We’re married, with normal, healthy sex lives,” Fiona said, sitting forward a little. “I had a hard time when I got home. Had some flashbacks, even had an episode where I was convinced the people who’d held me captive were here in Riverton, trying to take me back. Tex helped me get through that one, as did my amazing therapist. The point is…we survived. We made it. Because we didn’t give up.”
“Well, I kind of did,” Julie said with a shrug. “I’ve come to terms with what I did and said, and thankfully, Fiona and the others forgave me for being a colossal bitch. If I have any advice for you, it’s tonotbe like me. Don’t ever give up. Don’t give in. Whether that means going after some lifelong dream you have, or if something bad happens and shit hits the fan. Everyone you met tonight has been through hell and come through to the other side. Strangers you meet on the street are the same way. You have no idea looking at them who has been through an abusive marriage, miscarriage after miscarriage, horrible childhoods, accidents they should’ve died from.”
“Being with a SEAL isn’t easy. Every time they go on a mission, they might not come back,” Fiona said softly. “And I’m not saying that to freak you out or to be a downer, it’s simply the truth. And sometimes they come home moody and quiet because of the things they’ve seenand done. All you can really do is put one foot in front of the other. To keep going. Because it’s a damn certainty that life isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to throw some horrible things at you, which you already know.
“You didn’t give up back there in Vegas. You got away. You’re here now. With Smiley.Living. That’s what I’ve learned through my ordeal. To live. No matter what, to keep on living.”
Bree nodded. She had already been in awe of these women, and now she felt that times ten.
“Lord, we’ve scared the hell out of her,” Julie mumbled.
“No, I…I’m okay. I won’t deny I’m scared, but not of what you said. Of the guy after me. Knowing what he wants me for is terrifying.”
“It should be,” Julie said succinctly. “And I’m not trying to be a bitch…although that seems to come natural to me. I think you need to use that feeling to motivate you to be more aware of your surroundings. To do what Smiley tells you to do, even if you think it’s over the top. And if the worst happens, you?—”
“Julie, no,” Fiona said, interrupting her friend.
“She needs to hear it,” she protested.
“I think she got the point,” Fiona said with a shake of her head.
“I understand,” Bree interjected, not liking that the women were arguing because of her. “If he gets me, I need to be strong. To stay alert. To look for my chance to get away. And if that doesn’t happen, to not give up.”
“Exactly,” Julie said. “Because if the asshole after you succeeds, I have no doubt whatsoever that Smiley won’t stop looking until he finds you.”
“And knowing someone is out there doing what theycan to get to you…it’severything,” Fiona said. “I didn’t have that. And that made it even harder to stay strong. To keep fighting.”
“But you did,” Julie said, putting a hand over Fiona’s. “You were so damn strong. It still humbles me to this day. All I’m saying is that if the worst happens, have no doubt that the cavalry is coming. And you have the best of the best with Tex on your side. The man is an angel. He’ll figure out where you are, and Smiley and his entire team—hell, probably our men too—will come for you.”
