“What are you thinking about that’s got your brow furrowed like that?” He gently rubbed a finger over the wrinkle that had formed on her forehead.
Her eyes closed automatically as she savored the gentle touch. “Oh, you know…my to-do list. Groceries. Errands. The fact that the longer it takes us to crack Fuentes, the longer Rachel’s subjected to Freedom and God only knows what other nasty drug the man’s invented.”
The moment he cupped her cheek, Penny didn’t hesitate to move into Rafe’s warmth. Solid and unwavering, his arms surrounded her like a protective shield. With a heavy sigh, she braced her forehead against his chest.
This open, wilted person she became in his embrace unnerved her. She hadn’t invited her, and she sure as hell wasn’t comfortable with her. But that didn’t seem to matter when Rafe’s hand slipped into her hair and gently kneaded the tight muscles at the base of her neck.
Her voice shook as the admission slipped too easily from her lips. “I know we need to keep our guard up, to not rush this, but I keep picturing Rachel in a dark, dank dungeon, scared out of her mind, and the harder I try to change my focus, the worse the images get. How can I not let them affect me?”
“I’m not going to pretend to know what you’re feeling.” Rafe’s breath brushed intimately against her ear, his words weighted with sincerity. “And I can’t say your concerns aren’t warranted, because Fuentes is one sick fuck. But one thing that helped me back in Delta and with Alpha now is focusing on the end result. Rachel’s already in this situation. It’s done. We can’t change that. But we’re going to do our damned best to get her out of it. In other words, focus on the things you can change, not the things you can’t. Rachel’s lucky to have you in her corner.”
“She’s been in mine long enough. It was never a question of if I’d try to find her, but whether I could actually do it. Thanks to you and the others, we’re close. I never would’ve gotten this far without all of you.”
“The same could be said about you. We’ve been after this bastard for close to a year—three months in San Pedro Sula alone. Before you, we only had suspicions and hearsay about where Fuentes was getting his guinea pigs. And if you hadn’t overheard that conversation between those two drug peddlers, we wouldn’t have known that Fuentes kicked up his timeline, much less known where to score a face to face.”
Her gaze flickered down to his mouth, mere inches away. “So you’re saying the moment I kicked you between the legs is the moment your luck changed?”
“The moment I met you, a lot of things started to change.” A charged silence thickened between them until he stepped back, trailing his fingers down her bare arm until their fingers entwined.
Penny was still looking down at their linked hands when he started leading the way out of their room. Hand holding was a simple, innocent gesture, but that nagging little jump in her stomach told her that there was nothing innocent about the intimate contact.
And there was nothing simple about the way it made her feel.
*
Dinner tasted like ash in Penny’s mouth, and on a few occasions, she battled back her gag reflex. The woman from the club, Carlotta—Diego finally introduced her—had joined them, but she didn’t so much as look in their direction, her big brown eyes as sightless as they’d been the other night at the club.
It didn’t take long to realize the poor woman was nothing more than a puppet. She stood when Diego told her to fetch drinks, sat when she finished the task. Never once did she make eye contact or smile. She reminded Penny of the other women who had been in El Sótano with the exception that Carlotta appeared better fed.
But that little tidbit didn’t stop Penny from imagining lunging across the table and gouging fuertes’s eyes out with a dinner fork—for Carlotta. For Rachel. For everyone his cruelty threatened or harmed.
Men like Fuentes had a reserved seat in hell.
She’d mentally vowed to take Carlotta out of this nightmare when the weight of Rafe’s hand settled on her thigh.
A quick glance around the table had her realizing that she’d become the focus of both men’s attentions. She slid a forced smile onto her face. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You must have caught me in a daydream.”
“Which shows my hunch is correct.” Rafe’s eyes narrowed in concern as he gave her leg another gentle squeeze. “Let Carlotta escort you back to the room, Roja. It’s been a long day and I know you must be tired. I’ll be along in a bit.”
“I don’t mind waiting for you.”