They were used to running in formation. They constantly scanned their surroundings, were aware of all traffic on the street. Gino knew by now, Zhu and Cheng would know Zara was gone and she only had one place she could go—the American embassy. All they had to do was drop an army of their guards into a car and haul ass to the embassy to stop them from getting her inside those gates. Not only was that a very real possibility, it was a probability.
The embassy loomed up before them, the high fence surrounding it. Soldiers went on alert, watching them running toward them. A car’s tires screeched around the corner.
“Americans! Open the gate! Open the gate!” Draden called out. “We’re Americans.” They didn’t slow, but doubled their pace, Gino holding Zara tightly to him. Rubin moved over to the street side, running with him, hiding their package from the car rushing toward them. Draden had his military ID out, waving it at the guard.
“Captain Ezekiel Fortunes,” Ezekiel identified himself as they came up on the embassy.
The car screeched to a stop and Cheng’s men poured out, armed to the teeth, running at them. The embassy gate swung open and Draden stepped inside, spun around and watched as Gino, with Ezekiel and Rubin, sprinted inside the gates. Diego kept up the rear, and like Draden, spun around to face Cheng’s security guards and their weapons. The guards closed the gates right in their furious faces.
“Sir,” one American sentry said to Ezekiel. “I’m required to see your ID.”
“Captain Ezekiel Fortunes,” Zeke snapped. “We need to get this woman inside. She’s been tortured. We all are carrying our IDs, so give us an escort inside and we’ll each show them immediately.” He handed his over. “She needs medical attention.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gino felt Zara stir in his arms while Zeke sorted their identities with the guard at the gate. He wasn’t listening. The tension in her ratcheted up another notch. Her body shuddered. Shivered. “Need your coat, Rubin.”
Rubin immediately shrugged out of his jacket and helped Gino wrap the shivering woman in it. She had her head turned away from Gino’s chest and was looking out the gate toward the security guards. Her breath left her lungs in a long rush of fear. Gino not only heard the small whimper of terror, but felt it. His eyes followed the turn of her head to the sleek car that had pulled up in front of the gates. A man slid out of the leather interior.
Bolan Zhu. Gino recognized him from his photographs. He looked like a movie star, his dark hair slicked back, his suit immaculate. He simply stood on the walkway, eyes on Zara’s face. Gino turned her so she couldn’t see the bastard. They all knew the big son of a bitch was the one doing the torture for Cheng. If her reaction to him was anything to go by, she was petrified of the man.
Deliberately, Gino locked eyes with the bastard. Let him know where the true threat was. Zhu could beat a defenseless woman, but it was something altogether different to come at a man looking forward to the altercation. He didn’t smile. Not even a taunting smile. He didn’t feel like giving him that much of a warning. He just stared at the fucker and then, contempt on his face, leaned down to nuzzle the top of Zara’s head.
“I’m right here. I’ve got you,” he whispered. “You’re safe.”
She shook her head and pressed her swollen face against his shirt. “I’ll never be safe.”
“Princess,” he said softly. “Look at me.”
She raised her head and peered up at him. He felt the impact all the way through his guts—through that monster punching at him to get out and rid the world of a man like Zhu who would commit such a crime against an innocent. Zara Hightower needed protection, not the cold monster lurking inside him, but he knew it was the same thing. His monster was her protection.
“I take care of what’s mine. He won’t get his filthy hands on you again. That’s my promise to you.”
He held steady while those little pinpoints of what was left of her eyes searched his. She must have caught a glimpse of that demon inside of him, the one ready to be let loose, the one punching and stabbing to get free.
“You understand me?” Because he was telling her so much more than the words conveyed.
She swallowed again and nodded.
“Keep your eyes on me. Don’t look at him. Don’t think about him. A man like that is beneath contempt.”
She nodded again, and once more, Gino lifted his gaze to Zhu’s. The bastard was staring at him, stupid enough to think he might be intimidating. Zhu thought Gino was like the others, a white knight. Maybe he would have been, but that was long gone, ripped from him when he was a child and he’d been shaped into something completely different. He was a demon now, still rescuing the innocent, but with so much more in his arsenal.
Zhu refused to look away, or go away. He wanted Zara to be afraid of him. The man didn’t realize she’d already recognized the monster in Gino and was willing to give herself to him for his protection. She saw. She believed. That was enough for Gino.
Gino turned with Zara in his arms, cradled close to his chest by his heart, and he walked away without once looking back.
The moment he was inside, he was a different man. He was an officer. A doctor. A surgeon, and he expected complete cooperation. He showed his ID but had no patience for the rest. “I’m a doctor,” he snapped. “This is my patient. No one touches her until I know she’s safe and has been treated. Take me to a private room where I can treat her.”
“Her name?”
“Zara Hightower.”
There was a small gasp. The military guards, Houghton and Hurley, exchanged shocked looks. “The Zara Hightower?”
Houghton was already moving, not waiting for an answer. Gino followed him. “Zeke’s arranging a flight out of here as soon as possible on the first scheduled plane back to the United States. We have to get her out of the country before the authorities realize she’s gone.”
“She can’t just leave the country without … There are protocols. She’s a guest here.”
Gino sent him one look over Zara’s head. It was enough. Gino let him see the demon, the one from hell ready to do damage to anyone opposing him. Houghton pulled open the door to a suite with a bathroom. Gino indicated the bed with his chin. Rubin and Diego had followed while Ezekiel went to make hasty arrangements to leave the country. Draden stayed with him to ensure his safety.
It was Rubin who ripped back the covers to expose the sheets while Diego ducked into the bathroom to run hot water onto cloths. He brought back towels.
“We’ll need clothes for her for later. Something soft. Don’t worry about underwear. Her body’s too torn up.”
Houghton’s gaze found Zara’s lower legs and thighs with their terrible striping. “Who the hell did this?” Anger was in his voice now. On his face. Yeah, he didn’t much like seeing a woman, an American at that, treated to torture.
“Houghton,” Gino said softly. “We have to get out of here before he goes to the government. You’ll need to find us a plane out.”
Houghton nodded and left them. Gino jerked his head toward the door and Diego and Rubin obeyed his silent order. Zara wasn’t too aware of her surroundings, the trauma throwing her into shock, but later, he didn’t want her to be embarrassed every time she looked at his friends.
“All right, princess, it’s just the two of us. I’m cutting off this shirt and treating your wounds. First, I’m injecting you with morphine. I need to know if you have any allergies.” He hadn’t read that she did. Her body hadn’t once stopped the terrible shivering, some of the tremors so severe she looked as if she was having a convulsion.
“Zara, when I ask you these questions, baby, you have to answer them so that I can help you. Understand?” He smoothed back her hair. In spite of her ordeal, that hair was every bit as soft as it looked. More even. “We have to clean you up fast and get you back to the United States where I know you’re going to be safe. I’m taking you to Bellisia.” He figured it wouldn’t hurt to remind her that her best friend was waiting. “I need to take the pain away for you.”
Another shudder went through her body. He saw her eyes shift to his face. “Trying.” She managed. “So scared.”