They were trapped.
CHAPTERFIVE
“Let me see.” Bennett moved through the darkness and leaned over Hadley. He pressed a hand against the door and just felt a smooth plate. No lock to pick. “Shit.”
“Can you call Henry?”
He saw the vague outline of her face in the darkness. “Yes.” He reached for his pocket and cursed.
She made a sound. “What now?”
“My phone is in my jacket pocket, and my jacket is—”
“Hanging in the coat closet,” she finished.
He’d taken it off when they arrived, and bloody forgot about his phone.
He heard her rummage in her bag. “I have mine. Do you know Henry’s number?”
“Without my phone, I don’t know anybody’s number.”
“I’ll message Hex.” The screen lit up.
“Did you get the bug in place?” he asked.
She looked up at him, her face awash with blue light. “Of course.”
God, he liked that self-assured tone. His cockreallyliked it.
He liked everything about this woman.
She shifted and sat on a box. Bennett followed and sat beside her. Their legs brushed, and her citrus and floral perfume teased him. He closed his eyes and counted to ten.
“I’m sure you have reasons not to trust easily,” he said quietly. “I had no right to poke at you about it.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Most of what you said was right. I don’t trust easily, and I have my reasons.”
“Who was he?”
She sighed. “A foreign agent. I didn’t know that when I was falling in love with him.”
The thought of Hadley loving any man made Bennett’s gut tight as a rock. He hated it. But the thought of some shithead using her was worse.
“You’re lying, too,” she said. “The charming ‘lord of the manor’ thing you have going on—others might fall for it, but not me.”
He stiffened. “I am who I am, Hadley.”
“Secura, everything you do, is calculated to get your way.”
“I won’t apologize for that. My way means soldiers and their support staff in shitty places have a better chance at survival. They don’t end up bleeding in the fucking dirt.”
Silence reigned in the enclosed space.
Bennett heaved in a breath.Damn. He hadn’t meant to lose it.
“Who did you lose?” she asked quietly.
Hell, who hadn’t he lost. “Battle brothers, some Afghan soldiers I worked with…and my Afghan interpreter. Smart guy with a sharp sense of humor. Hamed wanted to help his country find a better future. He wanted to give his little girl a chance at a life with some freedom. The tough bastard saved my life more than once, and helped our team countless times. I used to give him some of our gear. The shit he was supplied with was a joke.” He paused, gut tightening.