Page 94 of Fearless

Seeming to be feeling the same thing, he carefully sat beside her and put his head on her shoulder. She leaned over, placing her cheek against the top of his head. They stayed like that for several long moments, simply absorbing each other’s presence.

“I’ve dreamed of this moment for almost two months,” he said gruffly. “Now that you’re here, I hardly know what to say.”

“Me, too,” she said softly.

His big body began to shake, and a ragged, harsh breath broke free. Tears pooled in her eyes at how much he was hurting. She had never seen her husband cry. He was the most stoic man she’d ever known.

“I’m so sorry, Serena. I left you there. I’ll never forgive myself for leaving you to that monster.”

She grabbed his hand and brought it to her lips. “No, Sean. You had to do that. You were my only hope. Without you, I’d still be stuck there.”

“No, baby. I put you in that position. You would have⁠—”

“You saved me, Sean. They were going to take me, whether they had you or not. But being able to use you as leverage gave me a chance I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

“Maybe so, but I’ll still never forgive myself for getting away safely and leaving you behind.”

“It worked out just the way it was supposed to. I was so worried that Kingsley wouldn’t keep his promise.”

“Kingsley’s promises are about as fake as his smile. He sent an assassin to kill me.”

“Brody,” she answered.

“You knew that?”

“Not until Kingsley showed me footage of a man driving away from the hospital in a van. I recognized him. It’s a miracle it was him and not another assassin.”

“Yeah. If they’d sent anyone else, I wouldn’t be here.”

“And even though my plans were on the fly and not well thought out, they apparently worked.”

“Everything worked beautifully,” Sean said. “Belle was amazing. As soon as we gave her the flash drive you’d hidden in that fake rock on your desk, she knew exactly what to do.”

Her heart lightened. Serena had known that Belle would be the only one who’d be able to decipher the messages. Without a doubt, divine intervention had caused all these things to work out. If just one step had been missed, she would still be suffering in that cell.

Another knock sounded, and Jazz peeked in, a sat phone in her hand. “I’ve got your mom and dad on the phone. Feel up to⁠—”

“Yes…please.” Serena held out her hand for the phone. She felt another kiss on her head from Sean, and then she was alone with her parents. “Mom? Dad?”

“Oh, Serena, sweetheart,” her mom said huskily. “We were so worried.”

* * *

Relieved to hear a little life in Serena’s voice as she spoke to her parents, Sean closed the door quietly. The closer he got to the main living area, the angrier he became. Something had happened, something she wasn’t ready to tell them. Yes, he knew she’d been held hostage. Yes, he knew she had been under tremendous stress. And yes, he knew she had endured things no regular human could withstand. But he knew his wife. She had gone through SERE training and aced it each time. She had withstood conditions and circumstances that even a hardened soldier like himself had grappled to endure.

Something major had to have happened. He still didn’t know how she’d gotten the bruises or broken ankle. Why had she been in a torture cell and not the bedroom she’d been assigned at the beginning?

He strode to the living room where they’d set up their conference room. The instant he saw the expressions on Eve’s and Jazz’s faces, he said, “You see it, too, don’t you? Something happened to her.”

Their expressions solemn and worried, they both nodded.

“I’ve never seen her like that,” Eve said. “It’s like she’s not really here.”

“Like she’s putting on a performance for us,” Jazz added.

“She was held hostage for almost two months,” Gideon said. “That’s not something you get over quickly, not even an experienced OZ operative.” He held up his hand and added, “I know Serena aces SERE every time she goes through it, but even as tough as that is, there’s the knowledge that it’s still training and will end eventually. Being held hostage for real is different, no matter how hard SERE can be.”

“It’s more than that. There’s a pain inside her that she either can’t face or doesn’t want to deal with,” Sean said.