Bridal Op. Dana Marton

and looked up. The stars were coming out. “We better get some rest.”

      Rafe’s backpack rustled. He was probably going for his own supper.

      She stared at the night sky but could not make the feeling of endlessness and peace settle into her tense body. Was Sonya looking up at the same stars? Probably not. She’d be hidden out of sight. But her kidnappers… How many were they? She figured on a handful of men. More than that would draw attention. There might even be just one at a time. They could be guarding her in shifts.

      Would they hurt her?

      Her jaw tightened at the question that kept her up at night. Because she knew they might. There were a lot of things they could do to her while still keeping her in a condition good enough that, when her father demanded to hear her voice, she could say a few words over the phone.

      The strong smell of spices made her glance over at Rafe. He was chewing on some smoked meat he had bought at a local market before they’d begun their hike two days ago.

      “God, I missed this.” He just about moaned with pleasure.

      His joy seemed so complete, she couldn’t help but smile. “How long has it been since you visited?”

      “Too long and not long enough.” He gave her a rueful grin.

      “Is there— Would you be in trouble if we ran into…” She half voiced the question that had popped into her mind from time to time since they’d landed, then stopped. She didn’t want to offend him.

      “Is there a warrant out for my arrest?” He drew up a black eyebrow, humor playing at the corner of his mouth. “No. Even in my most stupid younger years, I was always smart enough not to get caught.” He took another bite, chewed and swallowed.

      “And your old…um…associates?”

      His face turned serious. “We are nowhere near them.” He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then shook off whatever memories her questions had brought forth. “I’m not saying I won’t be happy to be back in Miami, though.”

      Back to the parties, back to his women, no doubt. Oh, what did she care? “What do you tell your girlfriends when you have to leave at a moment’s notice like this?” She put forward another question she’d been successfully swallowing until now.

      “Family emergency,” he said. “No girlfriend at the moment, if that’s what you’re getting at. I am conveniently available.”

      Her polite upbringing didn’t allow her to snort or produce any other rude sound, despite the four brothers she’d grown up with—her grandmother had been a Southern belle.

      As far as she could tell, Rafe was always “conveniently available” even when he did have a girlfriend, although that was a strong term for one of his temporary liaisons. Girlfriend implied commitment and some kind of semipermanence.

      “Gone through the whole city already? I suppose you’re going to have to move.” She meant to sound humorous and winced at how bitchy her words came out.

      “Very funny.”

      “Not really.” It was sad that despite the type of man he was, she was still more attracted to him than to anyone she’d ever dated. But if they got involved and then split up, working in the same office would be murder. So she wasn’t going to go there.

      “I’m hoping you’ll change your mind about me,” he said after a while.

      At thirty-four, she really was old enough to know better. “Hope is good,” she said sweetly. “It’s a positive emotion.”

      RAFE PACKED AWAY his food and lay on his back.

      He would have liked to think if he really went after her, he could get her. Women had always come easy, one of the few areas of his life he never had to worry about. Isabelle, though… She was different. She was too smart by half, one of the things that attracted him to her. Probably too smart to get involved with the likes of him.

      He enjoyed flirting with her at the office—gave him something to look forward to in the mornings. But he never hit on her seriously, despite that she was one of the most gorgeous women he had had the extreme good luck to meet. For one, she was a coworker. Two, he figured she deserved someone better.

      In a different world, if he were a different man… No sense in going there, no matter how many times she’d got him hot under the collar.

      “We’ll resume climbing at first light,” he said.

      “I’ll be ready.” She pulled a straight face, pretending hard that she wasn’t petrified.

      He found it fascinating to watch how she went ahead in the face of any fearsome task brought on by their mission so far. First there would be uncertainty and doubt in her eyes, then she would set those sexy lips into a firm line and seem to draw from somewhere deep within the courage necessary, pulling herself straight and unfailingly rising to the occasion.

      Her sheer determination was a like a force field around her. With her normally soft, fawn-colored eyes turned hard as they were now, if she stood at the rim of their ledge, spread her arms and said that by God she was flying to the top, he would believe her.

      She would conquer the rest of the cliff in the morning, he would bet his new boat on it. When the time came to climb, she would call forth the necessary strength. But for now, with a long uncomfortable night ahead of them, she looked like she could use some encouragement, a reminder of how close they were to their goal.

      “If all goes well we should be at the army base by noon. We’ll do some recon, pinpoint Sonya’s exact location and move in as soon as it’s dark again,” he said, and gained heart from the thought as well.

      In twenty-four hours, Sonya Botero would be safe.

      She’d been nice the few times they’d met socially, long before she’d become a client at Weddings Your Way. They’d flirted once, briefly, at a party, brought together by their common Laderan heritage. Then she’d fallen for Juan DeLeon, one of Ladera’s more prominent politicians. The Laderan community in Miami was all abuzz with the news.

      He felt responsible for her. Not only because he’d known her before, but because, as head of security for Weddings Your Way, securing her wedding would have been his responsibility. She was kidnapped right in front of his building, under his nose. It galled him.

      He hated any man who would harm a defenseless woman, use her as a pawn. He made it his personal mission to bring Sonya back and keep his partner safe in the process. Not to mention keep his hands off Isabelle. Close proximity and overpowering temptation notwithstanding.

      SONYA BOTERO SHIFTED as much as her ropes let her, allowing circulation to return to her left leg, which felt as if a thousand ants were crawling all over it. She held her gaze on the leg to keep herself assured the real army of ants, the ones that had marched right through her prison hut a few days ago, had gone. She saw them now only in her repeating nightmares and would continue to see them there for a long time to come. If she lived.

      Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Don’t give up.

      At least her feet had healed. She clamped on to the one positive thing she could think of. The jute sandals she’d been given at the beginning had rubbed her skin raw, and she’d been worried about developing some infection. But now that she hadn’t been allowed outside for days, her wounds had had a chance to scab over and start to mend.

      She thought of Juan and focused on that. Juan would come for her, Juan and her father—both men formidable in their own right.

      Just a little longer. Almost over.

      Trouble was, she’d been telling herself the same thing for about five weeks now, believing it a little less each day.

      She couldn’t give up. If she lost faith…

      But faith was hard to keep when she was hurt and hungry, when her life was threatened daily. At the beginning she’d got