Lydia woke up in the same room as the last time she’d almost died. She could taste the salt on the air and feel the breeze caressing her skin. She didn’t even have to open her eyes to know where she’d ended up. Lydia let her eyes drift open and smiled. Her sisters had come for her again.
Lydia glanced to the chair where last time she’d found Abby sitting. In her place sat the man of her dreams. Literally of her dreams. Rick sat with his head leaning against the cushioned side of the chair. His eyes were closed and his arms folded. A light snore filled the room. Lydia’s heart expanded. She hadn’t told Rick that she loved him, but she wasn’t going to let another day go by without him knowing how she felt. He’d done the right thing telling her the truth. She realized that now. He hadn’t killed her, and he hadn’t tried to recruit her. He’d tried to set her free. He’d even come for her when she needed him the most. He hadn’t left.
Lydia slid from the bed and glanced down at the pajama bottoms and long shirt that covered her body. She tiptoed through the room on silent feet and gently pulled the door closed behind her. She tried to swallow. Her throat was sore. She needed caffeine in the worst way. Not as a source of energy, but to soothe her dry throat. She rounded the corner out of the hall and walked toward the kitchen. Her sisters and Jaime sat around the breakfast bar, all talking in somewhat hushed tones. Emma was the first to notice her.
“There you are.” Emma grinned. “Did you know that your new last name is now officially Bennett?”
Lydia held up her hand. “I need coffee. You aren’t making any sense.”
She walked toward her and took her by the elbow as Abby pulled down a mug and poured coffee into it.
Emma glanced up at her sisters. “Oh, I thought they told you.”
Lydia shook her head. “No, they apparently didn’t.” She glanced around the room, looking for any man who wanted to shed light on what her sister was talking about.
“Rick had to kill your Lydia Stevens identity. He was under orders from the FBI to either bring you in as a new recruit or to kill you because you were a threat.”
Claire patted the stool next to her. “You might want to sit down for this.”
Lydia slid onto a stool as Abby handed her a cup of coffee. “He chose to kill you…his way.” Emma waved her hand in the air. “To give you a fresh start at a new life just like you wanted. That’s why he and the general had your name changed along with a whole new background among other things.”
Abby patted her on the back. “Yeah, from what I hear, his IT guy, Jonah, needs a good swift kick in the butt because he tried to make it Thompson, but Mike and Elizabeth helped them to see it more clearly.”
“How do you feel?” Jamie asked from the stool where she perched. “Do you need me to do one last run over your body like I did in the woods?”
“I didn’t see you in the forest. You were there?”
Claire smiled. “From the story the guys told, she showed up just in the nick of time.”
Jamie had the grace to blush. “You would have survived even had I not shown up in time. You would have healed just fine. I just helped speed up the process.”
Lydia shook the cobwebs from her head and drank more of her coffee, closing her eyes as she let the liquid slide down her throat repairing any damage that the asshole had done to her. She lifted her lids. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, especially after everything you did for me, but what are you doing here? Isn’t the general missing you?”
Jamie hopped down off the stool and poured herself another cup of coffee. “See, that’s the best part. Since he can’t trust the men to watch out for you, I’m your new bodyguard.”
Lydia bit the inside of her lip. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”
Rick sauntered out of the hall and over to her and rubbed her back. He placed a kiss on her forehead. “That’s where you’re wrong, Red. If you’re going to keep wearing yourself out to the brink of dying, who better to be your bodyguard than a healer? At least until we catch Floyd.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and held up the pot. “It’s not like we can attach this to your hip.”
Abby shrugged. “He does make a valid point.” She leaned over and whispered into Lydia’s ear, “Smart and good looking. You could have done worse.”
Lydia slid off the stool, grabbed Rick’s hand, and pulled him out onto the balcony. “We need to talk.”
Rick chuckled. “Your wish is my command.”
Lydia raised her brow. “You might want to take that back.”
Lydia let his hand drop and walked over to the railing. Off in the distance, she could see her brother and the rest of the guys. They had her niece and nephew with them. They were throwing a football back and forth and laughing as they play-tackled Lily into the white beach sand. That was what she wanted. Her family had proved one thing to her—she didn’t need normal to be happy. The evidence was all around her. She just needed Rick. She turned to face him. “You lied to me.”
Rick took a step toward her, and she held up her hand. He stopped. “Yes, but…”