Chapter 103

**Hadassah POV**

“You’re lucky.”
“I don’t consider getting shot, lucky.”
The bullet is out, the small, jagged piece of metal now lying bloodied on the tray beside the lead guy. The room is silent, save for my ragged breathing and the muffled pounding of my heart in my ears. The wound, now clean and stitched, gapes slightly at the edges. The lead guy, Torin’s prime soldier, reaches for the antiseptic with its sharp smell cutting through the metallic scent of blood still lingering in the air. He dabs it gently over the stitches and I flinch.
“Sorry,” he whispers, his voice tight with concentration. “I’m trying to be gentle.”
So close to his face, my eyes can’t help but venture every rough feature. Bushy brows set over a pair of stern and smoldering eyes like a glint of silver. An intimidating visage, but there’s something handsome about his hostile hewn face. Each line etched into his skin like a scar on leather. His jawline is strong and dusted with a coarse stubble that only adds to his raw, untamed appearance.
“Are we going to talk about it?”
Once the area is disinfected, he grabs a fresh roll of gauze. He starts wrapping the gauze around my shoulder, just below the collarbone, the fabric soft and cool against my skin. Each turn of the bandage is deliberate, securing the stitches, protecting the wound from any outside harm. I slant my head to the side and his eyes flick up at me with eyes that arrest my gaze, fierce and uncompromising like the edge of a blade.
“What is there to talk about?”
“You saw me, leaving.”
“You came back,” he says to end the matter. “What really surprises me is when the unidentified woman pointed a gun at me. You stopped her. Why?”
He moves around my arm, lifting it slightly to loop the bandage underneath and across my back. The gauze cradles the wound, snug but not constricting, the pressure comforting rather than painful.
“You had my back at the sea palace. I owe you.”
“You owe me nothing,” he says emotionlessly. “I didn’t have your back. I was following orders. My employer wanted you safe. So I did that.”
I couldn’t shrug, so I swayed my head from side to side thoughtfully.
“I guess I didn’t want to see a good man die.”
He snorts wryly, but says nothing.
“What?”
“Good men don’t work for Torin Moon.”
“You were a war-decorated soldier,” I point out.
“A die hard patriot turned private security. And now I’m just a gun for hire because I’m only good at one thing. Does that sound like a good man to you?”
I bob my head. “Good enough to acknowledge that. I know many men like you who serve elite criminals like Torin. Most of them turn a blind eye and don’t ask the questions they know will stain their morality.”
His response is resigned to a stiff silence. My breathing slows, the tension in my body loosening with the security the bandage provides. He ties off the gauze with a firm knot just above the wound.
“What’s your name?”
“Don’t get too familiar. Your boyfriend is the jealous type.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I blurt.
“Then what is he to you?”
“Now who’s getting too familiar?” I say teasingly, rising carefully to my feet. “You were there at the start, but not at the very beginning. Torin captured me and Orian kept me. You accusing me of having Stockholm Syndrome?”
He fights against a smile and looks away for a fleeting moment.
“Well, hostages normally don’t fuck their captors.”
“This isn’t a normal situation,” I counter. “If you knew anything about me and my life before, I blew up criminal enterprises. I didn’t blow them.”
A rare smile bursts through and he nods in consideration. “My name is Ellis.”
With that, his expression shutters close. All amusement blinks out of existence and he retreats to his stoic reserve. I try to put my tank top on, but fail miserably as scorching pain lances right through my shoulder. With a pained gasp that makes him bristle. With divine delicacy, he helps me put it on, his skin grazing against mine.
Ellis retreats from me to open the door, and I catch a slight tremble in his hand before his fingers flick out, bringing about complete stillness. He opens the door and trades terse words with another guard outside. He glances back at me and nods to the door. I ease myself into every mindful step as I walk out, and he follows after me. The federal agents that ambushed the hotel; it was a wasted effort since they suffered most of the casualties and Torin’s meeting was successful. I don’t know with whom or about what. Every time he asks, he masterfully evades the question.
Ellis escorts me to the double doors of the main suite, where Torin stands waiting. A shiver of anticipation as he crooks his finger at me, beckoning me closer. I comply and Torin takes me by the hips, reeling me in with his hand on the curve of my back.
“I’m going to have to chain you to me.”
His hand lifts so his finger can hook around the strap of my tank top. Then he glides it off my shoulder to inspect the bandaged area before planting a featherlight kiss—a touch that whispers on the edge of longing, a kiss that lingers, suspended between delicate and desire. A moment held in the breath between heartbeats. He fixes the strap back on and I glance back at Ellis, but he’s already walking away.
Out of nowhere, Torin scoops me off my feet and my good arm wraps around his neck.
“You’re wounded,” he says before I can even remark.
“My shoulder, not my legs.”
He carries me into the bedroom. “Any and every excuse to hold you close.”
He sets me down on the loveseat positioned in front of the king sized bed. He looks down, towering about me with an expectation in his eyes. I stare back at him quizzically.
“Ask what we know you want to know,” he says, laying the ground for a confession. “You want to know about the meet?”
“I’m listening,” I say in agreement.
“I met with an Albanian business leader with a great deal of political influence who benefited from the privatization of state-run industries. I desperately need his connections to brave our efforts in the quest for Magnus. To protect us all and my overseas interests.”
I nod gratefully. “I didn’t expect that from you.”
“Me neither,” he says with mutual shock. “I suppose you inspire something untold within me.”
I look at the ground coyly. “Since we’re letting things out in the open. You should know one another thing. The ambush and how I got separated from your guard. I was pulled out by Calum, at least he tried to extract me.”
His face falls and hardens into something serious. “Now this is astonishing. Talk about apt timing, since that ambush provided him fortunate cover with my on-site forces pre-occupied. What astonishes me is that you are telling me about it. And that you never fled with him when you were free and clear.”
“I will never be free until this is over,” I say grimly. “With Santos ahead and Orian looming, the odds are overwhelming and this is the only way to level the field. I’m telling you this because our interests are aligned. It’s time to work together.”