Whoever had abducted her must be making good on their promise at last.
She still remembered that night she’d been taken, after they’d bundled her into the back of the vehicle. She’d heard the thugs call their boss, the person in charge, and tell him that she was pregnant. At that point, it seemed that her kidnapper had grown a conscience and balked at the idea of murdering an unborn baby, so they’d left her alive—for the time being. But now that Gracie had been born, and had grown enough to be a little less dependent on her mother at all hours of the night and day, apparently their morals had worn out.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
Doing her best to stay calm and think rationally, even as her adrenaline spiked, Serena gathered up Gracie in her arms and rushed over to the closet, stopping to shove her feet into a pair of flimsy sandals, the only footwear her captors allowed her to have. Not great for running, but then that was probably the point.
Outside the bedroom door, the voices grew louder and more agitated as footsteps pounded closer.
As if sensing her mother’s growing panic, Gracie started to fuss inside the blanket she was tucked in, and Serena held her closer to her chest, praying to anyone who would listen to please keep her baby safe through whatever was about to happen next.
Holding her daughter with one arm, she yanked up a loose floorboard with the other hand, fishing around inside for the small makeshift knapsack she kept there. One of the housekeepers, Rosita, had become a friend to Serena over the months and had slipped her cash and other supplies whenever she could. Serena had stashed it all away for safe keeping, in hopes that one day she might be able to use it all when she finally made a run for it.
Looked like that day had arrived.
It wasn’t much. The equivalent of a couple hundred bucks in the local currency, a few protein bars, some bottled water, diapers, baby wipes, a couple extra onesies. Enough to hopefully last until she could hitch a ride to Frederickston, St. Dourdane’s capital city, and contact the American Embassy. She had no idea exactly where in the country the villa was located, but from the distance they’d traveled when she’d been kidnapped, Serena guessed it was on the other side of the small country from her family estate—which meant it would take about a day to get to the city.
Well, no matter how long it took, she would get there. For Gracie.
Originally, she’d planned to plot out a course and go over it in her head beforehand. But if the thugs were planning to take her out today, there was no time to wait.
The sound of a fight down the hall kicked her into high gear. Serena threw the strap of the knapsack over her shoulder and hurried to the window to open the wooden blinds. Something must be happening for them to attack during the day. She squinted into the sunlight, then climbed up onto the sill. It was about thirty feet down to the ground, but fortunately the architects of the villa had designed it with lots of lots of window boxes and décor that made climbing easier. Or it would have been without a baby in her arms.
Thinking fast, Serena rushed back to the bed and yanked off one of the sheets, fashioning a homemade baby sling out of it for Gracie. After making sure it was as secure as she could get it, she went back to the window and managed to get one leg outside when the door to her room smashed open.
“Stop!” the hulking figure of a man shouted.
She couldn’t make out his face in the shadows, but she sure as hell could see his gun.
Go, go, go!
Serena got her other leg out and gripped the windowsill, glancing down as the intruder cursed.
“Dammit! You’re going to get yourself killed, lady!” It was startling to realize she was hearing an American accent. The surprise made her pause—just long enough for the man to step forward into the sunlight and grab hold of her arm. Her world tilted on its axis. It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be. And yet, it was.
Her throat dried and she squeaked out his name, “Noah?”
3
Noah stared at the face of a woman he never thought he’d see again, and for a moment, it was as if time slowed. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d pulled out his cell since their one-night stand, pressed the call button, only to get an automated message saying the line was out of service. Normally, he severed all ties with the women he slept with, but she’d been different.
He didn’t really want to think about why, especially now—in the middle of a rescue mission.
“Serena?” he managed to croak, the words sticking like glue in his throat. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She continued to blink at him for several seconds, her grip white-knuckled on the stone sill. “I… I could ask you the same thing.”
“When you disappeared seven months ago I…” The dots slowly connected in his whirling brain. Shit. After their night of incredible sex, they’d parted still virtual strangers. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I can’t believe they sent a SEAL in to get me.” She adjusted the bundle looped across her body with one hand and Noah scowled. Whatever was in there was squirming and squeaking. Some floofy, ridiculous dog maybe? He knew little about her, but from the TV shows he’d seen, rich people had those kind of pets, right? Weird they’d let her keep it under these conditions, though. “At least my message got through.”
Her words jarred him out of his thoughts and back to the task at hand. Noah strode over to the window and held out his hand to help her back inside. “Yes, your message got through. But no, this isn’t a military mission. I left the SEALs a few months back after completing my last tour. I’m in private security now. The Southern Soldiers of Fortune were hired to track you down and bring you home.”
“Oh.” She hesitated a moment before allowing him to help her back inside. That thing strapped to her kept moving and fussing. Based on the oblong shape of it, it didn’t seem to be a dog. Before he could ask more about it, she clambered through the window and stood before him. “Well, I’m just grateful you’re here. When I heard the commotion outside, my first thought was they’d come to kill me at last. I’d overhead the staff whispering recently about their plans and I’ve been so worried about Gracie. I didn’t know how we were going to make it out of here on our own and…”
Serena continued talking, but Noah’s brain had checked out somewhere around the name Gracie. He stared at the sheet-wrapped bundle strapped to her chest and saw a tiny hand pop out. No. That couldn’t be a baby. But then the thing wailed and—yep. It was a kid. He watched her cradle the infant and move the sheets aside to reveal a shock of dark hair, same as Serena’s, then bright blue eyes, same as…
Wait. What the—