“I do,” I told him fervently. “I need to go.”
Being back in the place that I associated with so much pain was integral to my recovery. I’d always known I had to go eventually. I’d wanted to conquer my fear, but I hadn’t gotten to the point where I was ready to return. Now that there were women in trouble, I was ready.
“You’re not going, Danica,” Marcus insisted. “Christ! You just got out of a bad situation. Now you’re ready to go risk your neck again?”
“Yes,” I said emphatically, my eyes clashing with his in a battle of wills. “Marcus, this is something I have to do. I’ve always known I couldn’t let what happened get the best of me. I can’t let them win.”
“The terrorists who held you captive are dead.”
“Not to me,” I explained. “I have to face that fear before it will go away. That town had nothing to do with what happened to me, but I connect it in my mind with the pain and fear of my capture and torture.”
“Which is exactly why you’re not going.”
“That’s why I should go. You’ll be there with me, and I can help you.”
“I can’t do that,” he answered in a voice cracking with emotion.
I could see the worry in his expression as I replied, “I’ll be safe with you.”
“I’d handcuff us together to keep you from running over the border if you think somebody is in trouble.”
“I’m good with that,” I replied, trying to cajole him into taking me.
“No.”
God, he was stubborn. I knew he was trying to protect me from pain, but I couldn’t be afraid forever. The thought of going with Marcus wasn’t nearly as scary as going alone. “I won’t be afraid. I’ll be with you.”
“I’ll be fucking scared,” he admitted with a growl. “You’ve been through enough, Dani.”
“I have to go sometime, Marcus. And if I can help you, it’s a perfect time. I’m not going to let those bastards win. I’m not spending my life being terrified of a region I spent plenty of my life reporting on. I lived with those people. I was there more than I was here.”
“And it was never safe,” he rumbled. “It’s too damn close to the border. The towns in that region aren’t always secure.”
“Is anywhere safe anymore?” I asked. “Anything can happen anywhere in the world.”
“I suppose,” he conceded. “However, you don’t have to put yourself that close to the line of fire.”
“I’ll go eventually. You can’t protect me forever. I’m safer with you than without you,” I reasoned.
I couldn’t give in this time. I didn’t want to hurt Marcus, but I really needed to go with him and do what I could for the women who hadn’t been rescued from Gregory Becker’s human trafficking ring. Just the thought of kidnapped women being in the clutches of an evil man like the rebel leader made me nauseous. I knew what they’d suffer, and I knew that they would most likely die after they’d been used like they were an old possession rather than a human being.
“Be ready early,” he finally said irritably. “You don’t make a move without telling me you’re doing it.”
My heart clenched as I watched a pained expression cross his face. It was killing him to agree, but I was guessing he decided he would do better with me than without me. He might have contacts in that area, but it wasn’t a town he’d spent a ton of time visiting. His appearances had been quick, probably just long enough to meet with his informants in the region.
I lifted my hand and ran it over his lightly whiskered jaw. “Thank you,” I said sincerely.
His arms tightened around me. “Hell, I never really had any choice. I knew you’d move your ass like it was on fire once you heard that two women were in trouble.”
I smiled. “You’re moving pretty quickly yourself.”
He shrugged. “Your brother can’t go. He’s watching out for Ruby.”
Maybe he didn’t want to make a big deal out of his humanitarian efforts, but Marcus was the type of man who wouldn’t be able to live with the fact that he hadn’t tried to help those women. “You want to help them, too,” I accused gently.
“I want to keep your beautiful ass safe. I shouldn’t have mentioned the captive women. I should have known you’d jump right into the fire to save them,” he countered.
I kissed him tenderly and then pulled back to tell him, “You’re a good man, Marcus.”
He snorted. “Never heard that one before.”
“You should. It’s true.”
“Then you’re probably one of the only people who believe that. Most people think I’m an asshole, even my friends.”
I laughed at his self-deprecating comment. I’d heard Jett call Marcus a jerk on more than one occasion, but I knew he’d been joking. Underneath his bluster, Marcus was an incredible man. Oh, he was cautious, a trait that probably came from the work he did for the government. But anybody who got to know him would eventually see that underneath the asshole exterior, there was a guy with a very good heart.
“You’re taking me with you,” I reminded him.
“Reluctantly,” he answered in an unhappy tone. “And only because I think you’d get yourself into more trouble without me.”
“You know I have more pull in that area,” I argued.
“Maybe you do, but I’m still not happy about this entire situation. But I wasn’t going to lie to you. I guess I assumed you’d be okay with letting me go alone since it isn’t a place you really want to go right now.”
“I need to go,” I said. “I have to set myself free.”
“And I want to lock you up,” he said huskily.
“We could try out those handcuffs in advance,” I suggested.
“You think I won’t?” he asked, one arrogant eyebrow raised in challenge.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m so not scared.”
In fact, the thought of being naked and at Marcus’s mercy was an erotic pleasure I was pretty sure I’d thoroughly enjoy.
He stood, surging to his feet and pulling me up with him. I squealed as he tossed me over his shoulder. “Marcus, let me down. I think you have a fetish about carrying me around like a caveman.”
I was laughing as he smacked me on the ass, not listening to a word I said as he made for the bedroom.
“Not a fetish,” he denied. “I’m just eager to see you in handcuffs.”
I was still smiling as he took me into the bedroom and then set me back on my feet.
“You’re impossible,” I accused, unable to stop the silly grin from remaining on my face.
“You like that about me,” he said arrogantly.
I couldn’t argue. He was right. I did, in fact, love his stubbornness when he wasn’t driving me crazy.
“I don’t love it,” I denied falsely, putting my hands on my hips as I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, you do,” he corrected in a husky tone. “You love the way I keep trying until I get you naked, and then insist that you come.”
Oh, hell. I did love that.
“Are you going to keep talking, or are you going to show me?” My body was already on fire for him, and he hadn’t even touched me.
He went silent as he got to work on showing me just how much I loved his persistence.