Chapter 58

As soon as I'm free, he pulls me to my feet and wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly against him. I can feel the fine trembling in his powerful body, and then he releases me, taking half a step back. Framing my face with his palms, he looks down at me, his blue gaze hard and fiercely possessive. A moment of wordless communication passes between us, and I know. I know what he can't say right now.

I know he would always come for me.

I know he would kill for me.

I know he would die for me.

Lowering his arms, he takes my hand. "Let's go," he says quietly, still looking at me. "We don't have much time."

I grip his hand tightly, letting him lead me toward the darkened area near the wall on the opposite side of where the men are sleeping. The maze of shelves and boxes in the middle of the warehouse quickly hides us from their view, and Julian stops there, crouching down again and letting go of my palm. I hear a fumbling sound, like his hand is searching for something along the floor, and then there is a quiet creak as he lifts a board off the floor and places it to the side.

On the floor in front of us is a large square opening.

I kneel down beside it, peering into the darkness below.

"Climb down," Julian whispers in my ear, putting his hand on my knee and squeezing it lightly. The familiar touch calms me a bit. "There is a ladder."

I swallow, reaching out with my hand to find said ladder. How does he know this?

"I hacked into their computer and found the blueprints of this building," he explains quietly, as though reading my mind. "There is a storage area below that has a drainpipe leading outside. Find it and crawl through it." His hand leaves my knee, and I feel bereft without his touch, the danger of our situation hitting me again.

My fingers touch the metal ladder, and I grab it, maneuvering myself toward it. Julian holds my arm as I find my footing and cautiously begin to descend. It's pitch-black down there, and under normal circumstances, I would be hesitant to go into an unknown basement, but there's nothing more frightening to me right now than the men we're escaping from.

I climb down a few rungs, then look up, seeing Julian still sitting there. The expression on his face is tense and alert, like he's listening for something.

And then I hear it—a murmur of voices, followed by shouts in Arabic.

My absence had been discovered.

Julian rises to his feet with one smooth motion and looks down at me, his hands gripping the machine gun. "Go," he orders, his voice low and hard. "Now, Nora. Get to the drainpipe and outside. I'll hold them back."

"What? No!" I stare at him in horrified shock. "Come with me—"