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The pilot is shouting for the guys to get in, and John is barking orders to Jace, who is still firing his weapon.

Edson flies inside with Hermes, who looks bleeding from his arm. The chopper blades are kicking up a massive dust storm, making it hard to see and hear the fight outside.

Eloise felt the chopper start to shift. What’s going on?

Nicholas and Bryan jump on at the last moment before they rise into the sky and her body sags with relief.

She can’t keep her eyes away from The American. It’s odd seeing him looking so vulnerable. With his handcuffs and blindfold, he certainly doesn’t frighten her anymore.

He’s not wearing his stupid cobra boots. He’s barefoot, wearing only a pair of jeans and a shirt. Memories flood her of him on top of her in the bedroom, of the lies Pat told her that if she cried, he’d stay away, knowing now that only intrigued him.

She feels sick as she thinks of it. The harder she sobbed, the harder he squeezed the life out of her. She stopped fighting him. She would rather be dead than give in to that man and let him have her.

She reached the top of her dress and slowly eased out the tiny blade from her bra. Looking around, she saw that everyone looked exhausted.

Nicholas is wrapping Hermes’s arm, and the others’ attention is on that. As much as her body hurt and she was mentally finished and just wanted to close her eyes again, she knew this might be her only chance.

She shifted silently onto her knees and crawled forward. She catches Bryan’s face as her movement draws his gaze, but he doesn’t stop her.

He’s just watching. He puts a hand on Edson when he turns her way. Moving around on the chopper was not easy, but she made the five-foot distance and sat on her knees next to The American.

Leaning in and letting her hair brush his shoulder, he senses her presence, and his face turns up with a smile. Her lips are close to his ear as she whispers so only he can hear her.

“Anyone can be bought, Landon. It’s all about finding their weakness. Yours was me. The problem is I already belong to someone else and that someone else always gets what’s his. You never had me, and you never will. So, while you sit in your six by twelve jail cell, I want you to picture the colonel with his hands on my body, touching me, and my moans of ecstasy that are his alone.”

His neck muscles flex as he clenches his jaw. “This will never end, my love.” He leans into her. Even though his blindfolded, she could feel his eyes burning into hers. “I always win.” His mouth is still smiling at her.

He’s right. She will never be free if she doesn’t end this now. Her eyes drop down to his long throat, and the blade in her hand becomes hot as fire.

As she raised her arm, she saw her future flash before her. If this doesn’t end, she will forever be afraid.

All her anger boiled to the surface as she threw her body weight forward, aiming for his neck. A large hand wraps around her wrist while the other hooks her waist and pulls her to the other side of the chopper.

“It’s what he wants, Eloise,” Nicholas huffs in her ear. “He wants you to kill him. His hell is being caught. Let him live so he can suffer.” He pries the blade from her fingers and hands it to Bryan, who shakes his head with a smirk like she never stops surprising him. “It’s over, Eloise; I promise it’s over.”

They make two stops before finally landing in Montana at the safe house. The American, whose name she now knew is Landon, is handed off to Gregory and a team of his men who arrived back from TJ hours earlier.

Hermes had to be dropped off at a private hospital in North Dakota to have his wound treated. When she asks what happened to Pat, The American’s muscle, Bryan tells her he got shot in the head.

She nodded, not wanting to know which team did the deed since she knew Pat’s loyalty lay with Landon all along. He used her to try and trap Nicholas into coming to the market. Thank God Nicholas was smart enough to see through it.

She hates that she didn’t.

Stepping down on the solid ground and taking in the scenery feels pretty impressive, but seeing Anna and April run up and wrap her in a bear hug is even better.

Thinking back, she knew there was a point she didn’t think she would be here again. She thought she would live the rest of her crazy, messed-up life with Landon or until she made it end. As they fuss over her, she feels a bubble of warmth starts to rise from her stomach to her heart.

“Come on, dear; you must be freezing!” She tugged Nicholas’s jacket around her tighter as she looked at her bare legs in the Army boots, smiling. “Let’s get you inside.” She glanced back at Nicholas, seeing him smile and nod at her.

She returned the smile, but it faded when she started to walk, as the soreness in her body reminded her of what The American did to her.

Sitting in her room on the edge of her bed, she was still huddled under Nicholas’s jacket, wanting to shake off an odd feeling that had a grip on her. She knew she was tired, and she wanted a shower, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.

She wonders where her father and Mary are. She wonders what they’re doing now and if they’ve heard she was free again. She felt her face prickle all over like she wanted to cry, but she didn’t. She just sat and stared at the floor.

She may have fallen asleep for a few minutes because she slumped on the bed uncomfortably. She finally forced herself up, got showered, dressed, and went back downstairs to find everyone doing what they do best whenever they return from a job.

Drinks in the living room. It feels lovely to be back here, and she finds herself thinking of Hugo, realizing she will never see him again.

She wants to mourn for him, knowing it’s her fault he’s not with them, her fault he’s being buried, and why his little niece won’t be getting her New York snow globe. She called him killed. That death is on her, and her alone.

“One Marcus Martini for you.” Edson grins as his gaze falls to her neck, where she knows she has a purple and blue necklace of bruises from checking herself out in the bathroom mirror. She gladly took the drink and plucked an olive off the stick.

“Nicholas should be down soon. He’s just making his report. Look, Eloise, I know you’ve been through a lot. I hope you know how much we all care about you. Is there anything you want to talk about? Are you okay?”

“That’s a big question,” she answered honestly.

Edson nods, looking at the room full of all their friends smiling and talking. “This is a big day, not only because we brought you back home, Eloise, but we took down The American. It’s been a long seven-year hunt for that bastard. He’s been a real thorn in our side, and every one of these guys has reason to celebrate.”

She tucked her feelings aside and clicked Edson’s beer. “You’re right, Edson. I love you guys and couldn’t be more thankful for what you’ve done for me. Now, let’s go celebrate.”

Later that night, she lie back on her pillow and think about the evening. Nicholas couldn’t come to celebrate at all in the end, as he had a video conference with Gregory and some other important people about the capture of The American.

She was too tired to last more than a few hours and just wanted to sleep and turn it off. Thinking is overrated.

It is about three a.m. when Nicholas slips into bed with her. Something cold touches her skin, and he feels him placing her snowflake chain back on, fastening it around her neck.

Eloise squeezes her eyes shut, realizing how much she missed its comfort. His arm slides over her and pulls her back flush against his front. He sighs and breathes her deeply, then tucks his face into her neck, lacing her fingers with his, and they both fall into a deep sleep.

The week goes by in an odd blur. Everyone seemed to be doing their thing, whereas she just floated around, unable to focus on anything.

Nicholas is extremely busy. She saw him twice for dinner, but he didn’t talk much and seemed preoccupied. His apologetic comment that he is mentally fried was given a quick hug in the hallway.

Anna and April are helping Hugo’s sister with his funeral arrangements but don’t talk to her about it. She was sure they were only being kind, but leaving her out of it made her feel isolated and guilty.

Bryan, John, and Jace are hardly around, and Dyke only talks to her if she strays too far off the grounds.

Eloise started to feel strange in this house, a little lost and, frankly, a little hurt. No, to be honest, she was hurting. Feeling her mood sink even lower, her heart weighs heavily in her chest.

She finds herself drawn down to the entertainment room. Sliding down onto the smooth wooden bench, her fingers lift the cover, exposing the soothing ivory keys.

Her eyes close, and her heart swells as she feels her sit down next to her. Letting out a long, slow breath, her fingers touch the keys softly.

“Let’s play our song, but add a little of your flavor to it,” Mom suggests, grinning at her with a bump to the shoulder. “Come on, sweetie, let whatever bothers you flow through your fingers.” Eloise took another deep breath and let the pain flow from her soul.