Accidental Shield

“Did you hear me? It’s working!” I shout at him again.

He clears his throat and stands, towering over me. “Valerie—”

“Stop!” I aim a stiff finger at him.

I might be madder than I’ve ever been, but this man, this stranger, doesn’t scare me.

If he was going to hurt me, he would’ve done it long before now. So far, all he’s done is lie to me through his oh-so-perfect teeth. What I can’t figure out is why.

“Careful what you say next. If you won’t tell me the truth, the whole truth, then I don’t want to hear a single fucking word out of your mouth, Mister!” I can’t believe I usually swear so much, but right now, all I care about is the truth.

The worst part is, I have to work to shut off my empathy. Mr. Liar looks so tortured. Like he’s being split at the seams, trying to hold in whatever deep dark secret he’s kept from me.

Flint rakes both hands through his short-cropped hair, mussing it as he huffs out a breath. Then those bright sky-blue eyes look through me with such compassion I start trembling.

Trembling more, I should say. The shock, the anger already has me shaking like a leaf.

“You’re right, Val. We aren’t married,” he says quietly. “That’s a fucking sham.”

I nearly collapse, but he’s at my side, wrapping an arm around my waist.

Well, there it is. I wanted this, right?

Only…part of me didn’t want to know. Didn’t want him to confirm my worst suspicions. Didn’t want the illusion to end.

Now, there’s no going back.

“Why?” One word. It’s the only thing I can squeak out.

“I’ll tell you,” he says, tugging me to the bed. “But first you’re gonna sit down for this. I’m not risking you falling and banging your head.”

Jesus, is it that bad?I wonder.

I’m not even sure I want to sit down and find out more, but I have to. So I plop down on the edge of the bed. He sits beside me, keeping an arm snug around my shoulders that’s pure agony because it still feels like it belongs there.

“Let’s get the obvious out of the way. First, you’re gonna hate my guts, and I don’t blame you. It started as Cash’s idea. I told the fuck this wouldn’t work, you were too smart to fall for it, but…hell, it just got away from me and snowballed.”

“What snowballed?”

He draws in a sharp breath. “Cash saw some men throw you off your family’s yacht, not far from some little islands off the north point. They threw you into the yacht’s runabout, and you took off, but they also tossed a bomb or launched some kind of explosive in pursuit. You jumped out a few seconds before the ship blew to kingdom come. Cash went out there with his boat, found you in the water, and dragged you back to shore. Because of what he saw, he brought you here. We couldn’t take you to a hospital, knowing those men would keep looking when your body didn’t turn up.”

I nod numbly. It feels like there’s an electric current running through my blood.

“Then when you woke up the next morning and couldn’t remember anything…Cash—fucking Cash—told you we were married. He thought it’d help so you wouldn’t be scared to stay here with me. Don’t ask me what kind of idiot jackass he is, still trying to figure that one out myself.”

I’d closed my eyes when he started talking. My head keeps pounding about as fast as my heart.

I can feel the memories.

I can’t remember them, no, but I can feel the blast, the heat, the roaring waves. The fire, flames everywhere, hissing debris. Trying to swim away.

“Savanny?” I whisper.

“He was with you. Think you pushed him overboard in time, and I hear he’s a born swimmer. Cash saved him, too.”

Pressing a hand to my forehead, I say, “I can’t remember all the details, but I think it happened, just like you say. I feel it.”

He rubs my back, his nimble fingers arcing down. “You’re safe here, Val. That’s the only reason I ever lied, and I feel like a huge damn asshole for doing it.”

“I know,” I say, my eyes drifting down. “I knew you weren’t trying to hurt me ever since I woke up. But…but why didn’t you tell me the truth then? Even if Cash thought it’d help, why go through all this?”

He’s silent for a moment, his face dark, but then he takes my hand. “You’ve still got men looking for you, Val. Dangerous men who want to make sure you died in that blast.”

Oh. It hadn’t dawned on me, and when it does, I get my second shock of the day.

My heart hits the back of my throat, causing me to choke.

I cough, and Flint pats my back, but it doesn’t seem to help. It’s like I’m being strangled.