Page 80 of Protecting Bree
“Don’t do it, man,” he muttered, as he and the militant had a stare-down. All it would take was one wrong move and Bree would be on her own again. Something Smiley wasn’t willing to risk.
The man gestured to the bag of supplies Smiley had draped around his chest.
He shook his head. In any other situation, he would’ve handed over the water, food, and clothes in a heartbeat. But Bree needed what he’d managed to acquire. He wasn’t giving it up.
He could practically hear Kevlar’s voice in his head, telling him to wait. To go easy. But Smiley was done with that shit. Nothing had gone right, and he and Bree shouldbe at the airport right that moment, getting ready to fly back to California.
Instead, the country was quickly falling into chaos, she was hurt, they were out of communication with his team and lost in the worst part of the city. Smiley wasbeyondpissed, and no punk was going to get the better of him. No way.
They were at an impasse. Neither willing to back down. Smiley was sorting through his options in his head. Shooting this man was at the bottom of those options, he really didn’t want to kill him—for one, it would bring too much attention to the alley. Attention he didn’t need. Not with those posters of Bree tacked up in the area, with that exorbitant bounty on her head.
Suddenly, a loud crashing noise echoed through the alley—from Bree’s building—and the militant jerked his head instinctively toward the sound, giving Smiley the opportunity he needed.
Rushing forward, he was already swinging the butt of the rifle toward the man’s head when he turned back around.
It hit him square in the face, and just like his friend, he fell to the ground bonelessly.
Panting, Smiley ran toward the opening in the dilapidated building. He was making more noise than a hippo in heat but didn’t check his movements. Throwing a few pieces of debris aside that he’d strategically placed across the opening when he’d left, Smiley could feel his panic to reach Bree rising.
When he finally entered the room, relief made his knees weak.
She was there, looking much as she had when he’d left.Except instead of sitting on the floor, trying valiantly to keep her eyes open, she was standing behind a three-foot pile of bricks with a four-by-four in her hands. Holding it like a baseball bat, on guard and ready to swing.
Smiley had never been so glad to see anyone in his entire life. He was physically shaking as he stepped over the wood, rocks, and bricks on the ground to get to her. She moved at the same time, coming around the new pile of debris that he had a feeling she’d deliberately knocked over to cause a distraction. He didn’t drop the rifle in his hand, and she didn’t let go of the piece of wood. They collided and held each other with one arm tightly.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Me? Yes. Areyou?” he countered.
“Of course. I heard those guys rooting around out there and almost panicked. But they weren’t coming in here yet. So I just stayed quiet, hoping they’d leave. Thenyoushowed up. I nearly had a heart attack when they pointed their guns at you.”
Smiley didn’t want to let her go. Time and again, she was proving how tough she was. He was proud to be by her side. But they could no longer stay here. The men he’d knocked out would regain consciousness soon enough, and they needed to be gone when that happened.
He had no time to waste, but Smiley couldn’t stop himself from lowering his head and kissing Bree hard and fast on the lips. “I love you. So damn much,” he told her.
The smile he loved spread across her lips. “I love you too,” she responded.
It took all the strength he had to let go of her and focus on the bag he’d draped across his body. He pulledout the shirt and pants and held them up. “I have no idea if they’ll fit.”
The pleasure in her eyes hit Smiley hard. She was so excited to get a ripped, stained shirt and pair of pants. Anger rose within him once more. He wanted to give her the world, but if all he could manage was some fabric to cover her body and make her feel less vulnerable, he’d take it at the moment.
Bree pulled her arms inside his shirt and shimmied her hips, obviously removing the slip she’d been forced to wear. For a moment, she was naked beneath his T-shirt, and Smiley hated that for her. Hated even more to think about what could’ve happened. What Castillo had planned for her. It was a struggle to contain his fury.
As Bree braced herself on his shoulder to put one foot through one of the legs of the pants, Smiley reached for the shoes he’d found.
The pants were a little short and loose, but Bree gave him a huge smile as she tied the drawstring around her waist. “They’re perfect!”
They weren’t. Not even close, but the pleasure she felt in being covered was easy to see and hear in her voice.
She turned her back and took off the T-shirt he’d given her, then quickly pulled the stolen long-sleeve shirt over her head. When she turned back around, Smiley picked up one of her feet and held his breath as he helped her don one of the shoes he’d found.
He had no socks, but amazingly, the shoes fit reasonably well. They were slip-on Keds. At one time they’d probably been white, but now they were a dingy gray, stained from the dirt and filth of the city. They were just atouch large, but Bree obviously didn’t seem to mind. “Thank you,” she breathed, staring at her covered feet.
Again, Smiley had to force himself not to show any emotion. He was ready to scorch the Earth for what Bree had been through. She’d been to hell and back, and the security of shoes on her feet and a covered body was enough to make her extremely grateful. When they got home, Smiley was going to pamper the hell out of his woman.
“We need to go,” he told her, after he put his shirt back on, still warm from her body, before handing her a bottle of water from the bag.
Her eyes lit up again, and she grabbed the bottle without a word, but she didn’t have the strength to crack the seal on the lid. It was one more thing to blame on Castillo. Smiley reached over and, without taking the water from her, twisted the top off.
