The moment he stepped inside the open lobby area, he scanned the offices on both sides. He spotted Arianna immediately. But Chris also lifted his gaze at that moment. The man jumped to his feet, grabbed Arianna by the arm, and hauled her to standing.
Arianna screamed as Justus closed the distance.
Chris put her in front of him, pulled a knife out of his waistband, and pressed it against her neck.
Justus slammed into the room through the glass door, letting it hit the far wall, a loud clanging of the metal frame surely drawing the attention of everyone in the bank. Justus made eye contact with Arianna long enough to reassure himself she wasn’t injured. He jerked his gaze upward. “Put the knife down, asshole. You’re in a fucking bank. There is no way to escape. The cops are right on my tail.”
“Drop your weapon,” someone shouted authoritatively from behind Justus. “Now.”
Justus crept closer, hands open in front of him. “Let her go, man. You don’t want to do this. If you hurt her, you’ll be in way more trouble than you are now.” Justus stopped walking, hoping he was convincing Chris to do the right thing. He was only three feet away. He could take Chris down in an instant. The only reason he hadn’t made his move was because he was hoping to avoid the possibility of Arianna getting injured in the process.
All his training kicked in. This was a hostage situation. The only difference was this hostage was his own woman, not a stranger. Nevertheless, he was trained to take down an assailant in this kind of situation. He’d done so, many times. He needed to keep his head on straight and focus.
Follow protocol.
“Fuck you. Back off,” Chris shouted, spittle hitting Arianna in the face. He backed into the wall, dragging Arianna with him.
She whimpered, her hands going to his forearm. Her eyes were wide and wild.
“Let her go,” Justus repeated.
“Drop the knife,” the officer at his back shouted again.
The second Chris shifted his gaze from Justus to the officer, Justus made his move. Lunging forward, he lifted one hand and slammed his palm into the man’s forehead. At the same time, he wrapped his palm around the man’s fist on the knife and jerked it away from Arianna’s neck.
Chris went down hard, dazed. He stumbled to the left and slumped to the floor.
Arianna screamed, backing away from Chris into the corner of the room. Her hands were at her throat.
Justus, assured Chris was out cold and confident the officer rushing past him had things under control, turned toward Arianna.
She still held her neck, but there was no blood oozing around her fingers.
Justus closed the distance in less than a second, hauling her against his chest. He threaded his hand in her hair and held her tight. “You’re okay.” He turned her away from Chris and cupped her face, tilting her head back so he could look into her eyes. “You’re okay,” he repeated.
Tears ran down her face, and she sucked in a breath and sobbed. Her hands went to his forearms. “He threatened to kill me.”
“I know, baby. But I’m here. I’ve got you.”
She cried harder. “Why didn’t I listen to you?”
The room was filling with people. Justus ignored them. “Because you’re kind and trusting.”
She swallowed. “I’m stupid.”
He shook his head. “You’re not. You’re human.”
“You told me over and over again. I ignored you.”
“Arianna, this is far more my fault than yours. I should have done something. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I suspected and yet I let it go on and on. I’ve never ignored my instincts like that.”
Another sob. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
Justus rubbed them with his thumbs. “You’re safe now,” he repeated.
“Sir? I’m going to need to ask you two a few questions.” The voice came from Justus’s right.
“Of course. Can we get my girlfriend out of this room, please?” He didn’t want her to have to look at the man on the ground who was now coming to and groaning.
“Yes. Follow me.”
Justus followed the officer. He was about an inch shorter than Justus with dark skin and hair. He wasted no time leading the two of them around the corner where Arianna wouldn’t be able to easily see Chris.
Justus could still hear the man, but he stood between Arianna and the bank office. It was comprised of a wall of glass, so it would be nearly impossible to prevent a glimpse.
“Can you tell me what happened?” the officer asked, his gaze on Arianna’s.
Arianna nodded and took a deep breath. She retold every step of the event from the moment she’d set the phone down in the hotel room until Justus arrived at the bank. She left out no details. Justus would never forget the entire trauma, considering he’d been forced to listen to the woman who owned his heart living it through the open phone line.
When she was finished, Justus explained where he’d come from and how he’d found her. He wrote down all their information and took a card from the officer. “You’re a lucky woman today,” he told Arianna with a smile. “I’d hang on to this one. Never hurts to have a SEAL on your side when you get in a bind.”
Arianna wiped away more tears with the backs of her hands. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank the teller who was sharp enough to realize you were here under duress.” The officer stepped away.
Justus wrapped an arm around Arianna’s shoulders and led her away from the room where several officers still stood over Chris’s body, though Justus was certain the man’s name wasn’t Chris. “How did you warn the teller?” Justus asked.
She smiled up at him. “I spelled my name wrong on the form. Two r’s and one n. Apparently it worked. I didn’t care if she thought I had stolen my own identity as long as she called the police.”
Justus pulled her closer to his chest and kissed the top of her head. “Smart move, baby.” He had a lot of things to say to her. Thousands. But not here. Not in this bank. Not while people were listening. Not while she was shaking so badly she couldn’t focus.
Chapter 19
When Arianna stepped into the shower two hours later, she was still shaking. Even standing under the hot water didn’t calm her nerves enough to keep her from shivering.
Luckily, Justus followed her into the enclosure and wrapped his arms around her middle, keeping her upright, her back against his front. He smoothed her wet hair away from her face and held on tight, his lips on her ear. “I changed our flight to tomorrow.”
She sobbed, unable to keep the sound from escaping.
“I’ve got you, baby. Deep breaths.” He rocked her back and forth, somehow sharing his strength while she cried. When she was finally drained of tears, he reached for the soap and washed her, never letting go, never putting space between them, never ceasing his constant reassurances that she was okay.
Justus helped her from the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her body as he pulled her into his embrace for the millionth time.
Her hair was dripping, but somehow he managed to pat her curls with a second towel, leaving them damp. “I still don’t know how you get this hair straight every day,” he said as he fingered through the locks.
“Magic,” she said, tipping her head back to meet his gaze. “Hairdryer, really. And a lot of product.” She knew he was trying to distract her by changing the subject. It was working. She was drained. Her fear had ebbed. She was breathing far more normally, finally.
“I bet it looks nice if you just leave it natural.”
She smiled. “Well, it’s not nearly as out of control as it was when I was fourteen. Much less frizzy. But I’ve gotten in the habit of wearing it straight. No one has seen it curly in years, except when I swim.”
“I have.” He stroked her face. “In the ocean and the shower and in bed.” He kissed her nose. “Leave it. Let me see what it looks like when it dries.”
She shrugged. “If you want.”
He b
ent down and lifted her off the ground.
She squealed as he carried her from the room. “What are you doing?”
“Didn’t want to stand in the bathroom all day.” He sat on the edge of the bed and swung them around until his back was to the headboard and she sat on his lap.
For a long time she curled into him, snuggling close, trying to keep from shaking. “I have to call my parents,” she finally stated.
“I know.”
“They’ll freak out if they find out I was abducted by knife and didn’t tell them.”
“I know,” he repeated, kissing the top of her head again. “You want me to call them?”
She sat up straighter, meeting his gaze. “You?”
“Yes.”
“And say what? Aren’t you worried they’re already going to be furious with you?”
Justus licked his lips, holding her gaze. His expression was serious.
Her heart skipped a beat. What the hell was he about to say? She was confident he was about to break her heart. A heart that never should have been available for breaking in the first place.
Not only had she been responsible for her own abduction today because she wouldn’t listen to his reasoning when all kinds of alarms went off in his head, but she’d also managed to fall in love with him. She was a fool. And he knew it.
Justus suddenly turned to one side and set her next to him. He gave her body a tug so that she ended up flat on her back, the towel still tucked around her. He hovered over her, his gaze so damn serious, she couldn’t breathe. She was about to get a lecture she didn’t want to hear.
“I fucked up,” he began.
“No, you didn’t—”
He set two fingers over her lips. “Please. Hear me out.”
She nodded, her eyes wide with concern.
He stroked her lips and then released them. “I told you I didn’t want a girlfriend. I told you we could only have these ten days. I agreed with you when you said you didn’t want to date anyone in the military anyway.”
She swallowed. Where was he going with this? A fresh tear escaped. She was so damn emotional today.
“I promised myself I would not let this thing between us become more than a fling. Ten days. Nothing more.”
She still didn’t move. Now, she didn’t breathe either. Another tear slid down her cheek.
His voice dipped lower, his gaze holding hers. “I promised myself I would not fall in love with you.”
She sucked in a sharp breath.
“I fucked up the plan, and I’m sorry. When that asshole took you…” He inhaled slowly, seemingly trying to control his emotions. His eyes slid shut for a moment. His voice came out softer and slower. “When he took you, my world came to a halt. My heart stopped beating. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Not even on the front lines. Not even when hunting down an enemy in the dark in a foreign country.”
She opened her mouth, but she still didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t even sure what he was trying to say.
He continued. “I’m in love with you, Arianna. Head over heels. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just did. And there’s no way to make it stop. I knew it before I called you. I planned to come back to the hotel and beg you to give us a chance. And then…” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I know I said I never wanted a girlfriend because I didn’t want to spend my days worrying about someone else when I need my head in the game, but the truth is, it’s too late now. It wouldn’t matter if I did walk away and leave you. You’re under my skin anyway.”
More tears slid down. A stream of them. He’s in love with me?
“You’re in my heart. I know you’ve spent your life adamant about not dating military personnel, and I’ll respect your wishes if you ask me to walk away.” He lifted her hand and rubbed her knuckles against his cheek.
“Justus…” she finally managed.
But he shook his head and kept talking. “The thing is, it won’t change anything. It’s done. You’re in my soul. Whether or not you accept me in your life, you’ll still be in mine. You’ll forever be in my thoughts. You’ll be the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night.” He closed his eyes tight for a moment and then reopened them. “I don’t even have a single picture of you on my phone because I was too stubborn to take one.”
That made her smile through the falling tears. “I could send you some from my phone.”
He returned the smile. “I’m hoping you’ve fallen just as hard for me too. I think you have. Have you?”
Holy shit. This was happening. She was totally in love with this amazing man, and he was in love with her.
He pursed his lips and set his forehead against hers. “Say something.” His grip was tight on her fingers, still pressed against his cheek.
“You navy boys make life so freaking complicated.”
He didn’t move, not even to take his gaze away from hers.
She smiled at him. “You’re going to leave me for months at a time and scare the hell out of me daily and I’ll be worrying if you’re alive or dead.”
“Yeah. I will.”
“I’m going to become one of those damn military girlfriends who cries over tea and drinks with the other women at night to chase away the loneliness.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
More tears fell. They were happy tears now, but he couldn’t know that. “I miss you already,” she whispered.
“Say it.”
She glanced at his lips.
He squeezed her hand. “Say it, baby. I need to hear you say it.”
“I love you.”
His lips were on hers in an instant, her head angling to the side to totally consume her. He moaned into her mouth, his tongue tangling with hers, urgent, demanding. He kissed her forever.
When he finally broke free, he was gasping for breath. “My God. I’m so in love with you I can’t see straight.”
She met his gaze. His eyes were dancing with happiness. A happiness she mirrored. “It’s a blurry experience. You’re right.”
“Tell me you feel the same way.” He seemed to need reassurance. In fact, he rose to straddle her, coming down on his hands and knees above her. His towel gaping open.
She lifted her hands to his face. “Justus, I’ve been in love with you for a decade. This week just solidified the fact. I’ve been lying to myself for days.”
“You’re mine?”
She chuckled. “I’m totally yours. I’ve always been yours.”
“I swear I’ll do the best I can by you. I know it won’t be easy, but I’ll work harder than anyone you’ve ever known.” He cupped her face with one hand.
She set her fingers over the back of his hand and drew it to her lips to kiss his palm. “You don’t have to do anything except look at me the way you’re looking at me now every time I see you.”
He smiled wider. “That won’t be difficult. You take my breath away.” He reached for the front of her towel. “Before we call your parents, can I please make love to you?”
She grabbed the spot where the towel came together. “Not a chance. Don’t forget you won a bet. You’ll be enjoying a nice lap dance from a woman in sexy lingerie before you get to have sex tonight.”
His brows rose along with one side of his mouth. “Where you gonna get the lingerie? Because I’m not leaving this room again today. I already changed our flight. If we get hungry, there’s always room service. So, I guess I’ll have to take a rain check on that sexy dance.”
She smiled broader. “I bought the teddy you requested while I was buying the dress. Sorry. You didn’t get to choose the color.”
He rose up above her on his knees, his eyes dancing with excitement. “Tell me you’re not kidding.”
“I’m not kidding. It’s in my suitcase. If you let me up, I’ll put it on.”
He stared down at her for a long time, searching her face. “Damn, you’re amazing. Why did you think you would lose the bet? You couldn’t have
known.”
She smoothed her hands up his abs. “Justus, I never cared about the stupid bet. I just wanted to make memories with you. This one is going to be the best one yet.”
“There is no doubt about that, but I want to fully enjoy every second, so we should call your parents first.”
She winced. “Must we?” How had the tables turned? “What time is it in Rome right now?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but we have to call them anyway. They’ll kill both of us if we don’t let them know what happened today and that you’re okay.” He scrambled off the bed. “I’ll do it. Where is your phone?”
Arianna pushed to sitting while she let Justus place the call. She chewed on her lower lip, knees pulled up to her chest. He put the phone on speaker and set it on the bed between them while it was still ringing.
Her mother answered on the third ring. “Arianna?”
“Hey, Mom.”
“You’ve got me on the line too, Mrs. Gallo. Justus.”
“Justus.” Her voice perked up. “You know better than to call me Mrs. Gallo. Please. Call me Maryanne.”
Justus sat on the edge of the bed, grinning. “Of course, Mrs. Gallo.”
Her mother laughed. “How is your vacation going? Tony told me you two had a packed itinerary.”
Justus smirked.
Arianna rolled her eyes. Of course Tony told her.
“We’re having a marvelous time, actually,” Justus began, “however, we did run into a bit of trouble this morning. That’s why we’re calling.”
“What happened?” Her voice rose. There was a rustling noise, and then Arianna heard her father’s voice on the phone. Her mother had put them on speaker.
“Arianna? Honey? What’s going on?” he boomed.
“Sir, this is Justus. We were just about to explain. A man has been following us for several days. He had the intention of robbing Arianna. So, he was watching as I left the room this morning to go for a run. He took advantage of my absence and forced Arianna to go to the bank with him.”
Hot SEAL, Australian Nights: SEALs in Paradise Page 14