The Omega Team: Hot Rod (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Sabrina York Page A
Authors: Sabrina York
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handsome and huge. He filled the frame, he was so huge. Something in her chest fluttered. “M-more?”
“More journals. More letters.” He looked down for a second and when he raised his head again and his gaze locked with hers, there were tears in his eyes. “I wrote you every day, Sam. I never forgot you.”
Lights danced as her mind spun. A cacophony rose in her soul. An eternal skirmish, the strident clash between hope and fury. “Is this a hallucination?” Surely it was. The pain, the drugs… Maybe she’d died and this was heaven. If it was, she was going to complain, because everything hurt.
“No, Sam. No hallucination.” She had no idea why he smiled. This wasn’t funny. Not funny at all.
“So you never forgot me?” Not a frail whisper, but a vitriolic snarl. It made him flinch. She didn’t care that it did. She was far too furious. “Then why did you send back all my letters?”
He paled. Seemed to diminish somehow. “Letters? You sent letters?” He took a tentative step into the room, but her glare forestalled him and he stopped.
“Of course I sent letters. I needed you. I begged for your help. But you never even opened them.”
“I never got them.” His voice was harsh.
“Right.” She crossed her arms over her chest and then winced because it sent a shaft of pain through her. But she refused to let him see her agony. “So you’re saying that someone else received them and sent them back to me?”
“Yes!” He lurched forward
“Who the hell would do that? Who the hell would be that cruel?”
“I don’t—” He froze. The muscle in his cheek bunched. He spun away. “Goddamn it.”
His anguish seemed so real, so poignant, she had to think he wasn’t pretending.
Trouble was, she didn’t know what to think about that either. She’d spent ten years hating him for his apathy, and now she was faced with the tormenting truth that he’d never forgotten her. He still thought of her.
He wrote to her every day.
Every day of the last ten years, she had been in his heart and mind.
He turned back to her, raking his hair. “It had to be my mother,” he said in a ragged voice. “She wanted me to forget you. Move on. We fought about it a lot.”
She stared at him, unable to speak.
The muscle in his cheek throbbed. “I swear to God, Sam. I was crushed when you never wrote. When the letters I sent you came back undeliverable. And then…” His voice broke.
“And then…what?”
His jaw worked as though he were grinding his teeth. “Then I saw it. The story on the news.”
Oh God. She knew. She knew what he was going to say.
“They said you died.”
She had.
She’d walked away from everything she’d been, everything she’d cared for. Even him.
It had been a hard choice, but she needed the anonymity to survive. And of course, she’d thought he’d deserted her.
But he hadn’t.
“Sam?”
How did she face him? What could she say? “Well, I didn’t die.”
“I know that…now. Where the hell have you been all this time?”
She turned away. “It’s complicated.”
“I want to know. I need to know.”
Not all of it, surely. It was a tawdry tale. “After my parents died, I went to live with a nice family in Wisconsin.”
“Wisconsin?”
“Great cheese.”
“I wish I’d known.”
“Everyone knows about the cheese.”
He growled. “You know what I mean.”
“I wasn’t allowed to contact anyone. I was dead. Besides…”
“What?”
“I thought you didn’t care anymore.”
“Fuck. I always cared. Always loved you. I never stopped.”
A familiar bitterness swelled. “That’s cute, but I’m not the same girl I once was.” She wasn’t.
“You are the same at your core, Sam. The same person.”
“I’m not. I’m a killer. I’m a highly trained operative who doesn’t think twice about taking a man down.”
Silence blanketed them as he stared at her for far too long. Then his lips quirked. “What’s your point?”
“Don’t be
“More journals. More letters.” He looked down for a second and when he raised his head again and his gaze locked with hers, there were tears in his eyes. “I wrote you every day, Sam. I never forgot you.”
Lights danced as her mind spun. A cacophony rose in her soul. An eternal skirmish, the strident clash between hope and fury. “Is this a hallucination?” Surely it was. The pain, the drugs… Maybe she’d died and this was heaven. If it was, she was going to complain, because everything hurt.
“No, Sam. No hallucination.” She had no idea why he smiled. This wasn’t funny. Not funny at all.
“So you never forgot me?” Not a frail whisper, but a vitriolic snarl. It made him flinch. She didn’t care that it did. She was far too furious. “Then why did you send back all my letters?”
He paled. Seemed to diminish somehow. “Letters? You sent letters?” He took a tentative step into the room, but her glare forestalled him and he stopped.
“Of course I sent letters. I needed you. I begged for your help. But you never even opened them.”
“I never got them.” His voice was harsh.
“Right.” She crossed her arms over her chest and then winced because it sent a shaft of pain through her. But she refused to let him see her agony. “So you’re saying that someone else received them and sent them back to me?”
“Yes!” He lurched forward
“Who the hell would do that? Who the hell would be that cruel?”
“I don’t—” He froze. The muscle in his cheek bunched. He spun away. “Goddamn it.”
His anguish seemed so real, so poignant, she had to think he wasn’t pretending.
Trouble was, she didn’t know what to think about that either. She’d spent ten years hating him for his apathy, and now she was faced with the tormenting truth that he’d never forgotten her. He still thought of her.
He wrote to her every day.
Every day of the last ten years, she had been in his heart and mind.
He turned back to her, raking his hair. “It had to be my mother,” he said in a ragged voice. “She wanted me to forget you. Move on. We fought about it a lot.”
She stared at him, unable to speak.
The muscle in his cheek throbbed. “I swear to God, Sam. I was crushed when you never wrote. When the letters I sent you came back undeliverable. And then…” His voice broke.
“And then…what?”
His jaw worked as though he were grinding his teeth. “Then I saw it. The story on the news.”
Oh God. She knew. She knew what he was going to say.
“They said you died.”
She had.
She’d walked away from everything she’d been, everything she’d cared for. Even him.
It had been a hard choice, but she needed the anonymity to survive. And of course, she’d thought he’d deserted her.
But he hadn’t.
“Sam?”
How did she face him? What could she say? “Well, I didn’t die.”
“I know that…now. Where the hell have you been all this time?”
She turned away. “It’s complicated.”
“I want to know. I need to know.”
Not all of it, surely. It was a tawdry tale. “After my parents died, I went to live with a nice family in Wisconsin.”
“Wisconsin?”
“Great cheese.”
“I wish I’d known.”
“Everyone knows about the cheese.”
He growled. “You know what I mean.”
“I wasn’t allowed to contact anyone. I was dead. Besides…”
“What?”
“I thought you didn’t care anymore.”
“Fuck. I always cared. Always loved you. I never stopped.”
A familiar bitterness swelled. “That’s cute, but I’m not the same girl I once was.” She wasn’t.
“You are the same at your core, Sam. The same person.”
“I’m not. I’m a killer. I’m a highly trained operative who doesn’t think twice about taking a man down.”
Silence blanketed them as he stared at her for far too long. Then his lips quirked. “What’s your point?”
“Don’t be
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