I lifted a brow from my cross-legged position on the other side of the board. “Do you really think I can’t get out of this one?”

  I could absolutely get myself out of check, but hell, I had to give Vanna credit that she could play so well while she was still recovering from her injuries.

  The sigh that she released from her lips went straight through me as she answered wistfully, “I’m sure you can, but it’s fun to watch you do it.”

  “Evil woman,” I muttered as I figured out which move to make.

  Savannah was a worthy opponent, and I was sure she could win as many games as she lost judging by her skill in her current condition.

  “Thank you for staying with me until I was better,” she said as she watched me make my move. “You missed the holidays with your family, Chase.”

  I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. Torie would have been even more miserable if you’d been here alone. She was chomping at the bit to get to Panama.”

  Not that I would have left Vanna, even if Torie had shown up.

  My little sister had come down with a bad case of the flu, which had kept her in California. She and Savannah had spoken by phone, and Vanna had assured Torie that she’d see her soon to keep my little sister from getting on Cooper’s jet.

  Wyatt had stayed several days to make sure that Vanna was out of danger. He’d returned to the States to handle a few things at Durand that had to be completed by the beginning of the year.

  “It is a big deal,” she argued. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  I wasn’t sure how to answer.

  Like I would have been anywhere else?

  I’d been apprehensive even though I was right here by her side.

  I would have been completely wrecked if I was far away.

  I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but I was totally obsessed with protecting her until she was well again.

  To me, the way I felt made sense.

  She was my little sister’s best friend, and I’d treated Vanna like a sister when she was a kid.

  Yeah, maybe those old protective instincts toward Vanna had resurfaced with a vengeance, but wasn’t it natural considering the circumstances?

  I couldn’t have left her even if I wanted to, and I couldn’t fucking imagine not wanting to be here for her.

  Maybe, during a happier time, I had a brief moment when I’d wanted to get her naked.

  That had been a very bad idea and totally unrealistic, especially when I already knew that kind of intimacy wasn’t in the cards for me anymore.

  I had no idea what I’d been thinking the day of Torie’s wedding in Vegas. I wasn’t a guy any woman wanted in her bed next to her anymore.

  I wasn’t sure how I’d forgotten that for a single second.

  The only thing I could ever be to Vanna was a friend and protector.

  Neither one of those roles were undoable for me. In fact, I was pretty much adamant that I was the perfect man for that job.

  Vanna was vulnerable, and she needed both a protector and a friend right now.

  “Checkmate,” I informed her as I finally made my move.

  Her brow wrinkled as she viewed the board. “Dammit, Chase! I thought I had you. Why didn’t I see that one coming?”

  Well, let’s see…maybe because she had nearly died a short time ago and was still recovering?

  Nah…Vanna would never cut herself a break for that.

  “That’s the whole idea, right?” I teased. “You’re not supposed to see it coming.”

  “I suppose,” she said, sounding disgruntled as she leaned back against the headboard.

  I fought off the urge to laugh.

  Oh yeah, that was another thing. She really didn’t like to lose. I couldn’t call her a sore loser. She just expected perfection from herself at all times.

  “You look tired,” I told her as I put the chess set away. “That’s enough chess games for now.”

  “I’m tired all the time,” she said mournfully. “And before you suggest it, I don’t need a nap. All I’ve done is sleep. I think it’s time you explained exactly why and how you and Wyatt came to my rescue. You told me you’d explain later. I’m better. Tell me.”

  She wasn’t exactly better since she was just discharged from the hospital.

  Vanna had asked me the same questions several times over the last few days because she was more oriented, and I’d brushed them off. All I’d wanted her to concentrate on was healing. Now that she was perfectly coherent, those inquiries were coming more and more often.

  Judging by the stubborn look on her face, I wasn’t going to get away with not explaining any longer.

  Besides, she was a Last Hope rescue. She’d have to know sooner or later.

  “Like I said, it’s kind of a long story,” I warned her as I dropped the box with the chess set onto the side table.

  She folded her arms across her chest. “Well, you’re in luck because it seems I have nothing but time right now. It’s a long flight and I’m not taking a nap right now, so spill it.”

  I grinned because I loved her sassiness. It was a sure sign that she was feeling better.

  I completely understood now what Torie had said about Vanna’s rhino hide exterior. Even when she was vulnerable, she tried to hide those emotions. Sometimes she’d succeeded. Sometimes…not, especially in the early days of her rehabilitation, but holy fuck the woman was resilient. I couldn’t help but marvel over the way she’d handled her recovery.

  I scooted my body back against the headboard so we were sitting side by side before I started to explain. “Before I tell you exactly what happened, I have to emphasize how important it is that none of this information ever gets to anyone on the outside.”

  She hesitated before she asked, “What information?”

  I let out a heavy breath. I hadn’t needed to describe Last Hope to anyone who didn’t know about it for a long time. “You were freed by a civilian volunteer rescue organization known as Last Hope. Not keeping that information to yourself could be detrimental to our volunteers and contacts all over the globe.”

  “I’m not sure I completely understand,” she said, sounding confused.

  I wasn’t surprised since I wasn’t exactly clarifying things all that well. “It’s complicated.”

  “I’m listening,” she said calmly.

  “Last Hope is a nongovernment organization that’s successfully been rescuing kidnapped victims for years now. Marshall, the leader of the group, was former special operations. He retired after an injury that forced him into that retirement way earlier than he wanted. If the government doesn’t want to touch a hostage situation, Last Hope is usually willing to step up to the plate. Every volunteer who actually carries out our missions is previous special forces.”

  I turned my head to look at her face. I could see the wheels turning as she tried to process what I was telling her.

  “Exactly how large is this organization?” she asked.

  “Worldwide,” I informed her. “It didn’t start out that way, but it’s grown in size over the years.”

  “You and Wyatt are both involved?” she queried.

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “Both of us, along with the Montgomery brothers, help to finance and plan the operations.”

  As she turned her head to look at me, I could see surprise and astonishment in her gaze as she asked, “Hudson, Jax, and Cooper are involved, too?”

  I nodded. “They signed up a little before we did. Wyatt jumped on board right after he was discharged, and then I volunteered when I got out after he told me about it. We’re the only organization left that has the scale and size to do almost any rescue without government involvement. But our continued existence relies on secrecy.”

  She shook her head slightly, like she was still letting the information sink in. “How did Last Hope end up coming to my rescue? How often do you and Wyatt have to trudge through jungles to bring hostages home? God, do you know how incredible all of this sounds? I know you’re telling me the truth, but it all seems so unbelievable. How many filthy rich men are willing to step into dangerous hostage situations?”

  I grinned. “Just the ones who had already done it many times in the military, and the five of us don’t usually carry out missions ourselves anymore. In fact, we all decided not to because our faces are recognizable, and we have plenty of volunteers who are willing to work in the field. We mostly do strategic planning and backup from headquarters.”

  “You came and rescued me,” she pointed out.

  I shrugged. “It was personal, and we needed a helicopter pilot who could fly at night and move into a very tight space. Do you really think we were going to leave your fate to someone else, Savannah? Wyatt and I have known you for most of your life. In your case, Torie was worried when you didn’t get back to San Diego on your target date, so she went to Marshall. We stepped in because you were considered a missing person, and neither government was ready to come off that stance. Last Hope knew differently, but Marshall’s sources aren’t necessarily people the government would see as credible. None of us have any issues with his information. Marshall has never been wrong or let us down when we needed something. Unfortunately, we were certain that you couldn’t wait for the governments to figure everything out on their own. So we moved as soon as Marshall had a good location on you. We all decided the operation would be more covert if it was just me and Wyatt, but everyone cared about your safety, Vanna, especially Torie, but Cooper and his brothers volunteered their services, too.”

  I saw her swallow hard before she said, “I had no idea about any of this, so I’m still in shock. So Torie knows?”

  “She does now, but she didn’t until recently,” I told her. “After recovering from her kidnapping, she decided to investigate some rumors she’d heard about Last Hope while she was working for the FBI. When she finally tracked down Marshall, she volunteered her services as a translator. Soon after that, she discovered that Wyatt and I had been part of Last Hope for years.”

  “Torie is a volunteer, too? How is that possible if your volunteers need to be previous special forces?”

  “Recent policy change,” I explained. “No one except ex-special forces can run field missions, but Marshall decided to start relaxing that rule when it came to special services. Jax’s wife, Harlow, was a weather specialist in the military. She was the first exception. Torie’s skills as a translator are valuable, so Marshall signed her up, too.”

  “Wait,” she mumbled. “I thought Harlow said she and Jax were getting married on Valentine’s Day when I met her at Torie’s wedding.”

  I smirked. “You’re right, that was the plan. But Jax got impatient and they ran away to Vegas instead. Since Harlow wasn’t all that thrilled about a bigger wedding, I’d say she encouraged the whole thing.”

  The event had been so spontaneous that the immediate family and friends had barely gotten there on time for the wedding. Wyatt and I had cut it close, and we had private jets at our disposal.

  “What about Hudson and Taylor?” she asked curiously.

  “Oh, they had their wedding as planned in October,” I shared. “A lot has happened since Torie’s wedding.”

  “I guess,” she said wistfully. “I went out of the country several times after Torie got married. We were going to catch up as soon as I got back to San Diego. Is Taylor part of this organization as well?”

  “As of right now, no,” I told her. “Taylor is just finishing her doctorate and working as a geologist for Montgomery Mining full-time. She’s already told Hudson that she wants to be an advisor as soon as her doctoral studies are completed.”

  “An advisor?” she questioned. “Is that a volunteer?”

  “Not exactly. She couldn’t mention it before, but Taylor was a Last Hope rescue. She and Harlow were in the same hostage situation while they were working out in the field in Lania for Montgomery Mining,” I explained. “Sometimes previous captives want to be involved in Last Hope after they recover. Who knows more about how to get through that recovery process than a previous hostage? We have some great advisors who are volunteers, but some are previous rescues, too. The trauma of being kidnapped extends way beyond physical recovery. Essentially, those advisors are there for aftercare. We also have some professionals, like counselors and physicians who know about Last Hope but keep our secret.”

  She was silent for a moment before she spoke again. “Are you telling me that you have an entire network set up to care for all of a victim’s needs?”

  “Yes,” I said simply. “That network gets more complete every year. That’s one of the biggest reasons we’ve been able to fly under the radar. We can’t force anyone into treatment they don’t want, but we haven’t had anyone betray our existence yet.”

  “So, does the government know about Last Hope? You said Torie heard about it from the FBI.”

  “Officially, they don’t know we exist. But yeah, they know. I think Marshall was so well respected when he was a special forces commander that nobody in the government wants to pull the plug on this operation. We try not to step on their toes when it’s something they’re willing to handle. In return, they pretend they’ve never heard of us. In all honesty, we’re pretty sure we get unofficial tip-offs from them sometimes when there’s nothing they can do, but we can’t prove it.”

  She rubbed her temples distractedly as she said, “God, this is all so crazy. Taylor and Harlow never mentioned their kidnapping for obvious reasons. Even though I’m an investigative journalist involved in foreign affairs, I never heard a peep about the organization.”

  “We like to keep it that way,” I replied honestly. “None of us are in it for the recognition or notoriety. We think what we do is important. We fill in a gap that needs to be filled. Hopefully, no one will ever hear about what happened to you, either. We went with a cover story since you’d already been reported as a missing person, and the authorities had apprehended and imprisoned your captors.”

  “I’ll do whatever you want,” she answered immediately. “I wouldn’t ever want to jeopardize the existence of Last Hope. They saved my life. You and Wyatt saved my life. Torie did, too, since she’s the one who took my disappearance to Marshall. You were right. The government wheels were turning too slowly. I would have died out there in the jungle before they even realized I was kidnapped. God, it’s possible they never would have figured it out.”

  “I promised you I’d be truthful with you,” I said carefully. “Time wasn’t on your side, and we knew it. If you hadn’t gotten treatment…”

  Fuck! I didn’t even want to think about what could have happened if she’d remained a prisoner for even a few more days.

  “I would have died of sepsis,” she finished softly. “Do you think I don’t know that? I knew I was slowly dying, Chase. Most of my hopes of getting rescued were already gone. I owe Last Hope, you, Torie, and Wyatt more than I can ever possibly repay.”

  “Seeing you get well again is payment enough,” I said gruffly.

  She sighed. “You know I’ll cooperate with anything I need to do to help Last Hope. Will you need to find me an advisor to guide me through this?”

  “Nope. You already have one,” I informed her.

  “Torie?” she queried.

  “She’s too new in the organization to handle that duty,” I said hoarsely. “The best person for that job would be…me.”

  Savannah

  I nearly choked on my tongue when he told me that he was going to act as my advisor. “You’ve already done enough for me, Chase. You’ve spent the last two weeks rescuing and taking care of me already. Between Durand Industries and Last Hope, you must be insanely busy.”

  After all that had happened, all I wanted to do was stay close to the man who had saved my life.

  Even if I did hate being dependent on anyone else except myself, I had been scared, I had needed someone to lean on, and I had nearly died.

  Chase had been there every time I’d woken in the hospital terrified and vulnerable, but clinging to him like a lifeline now that I knew I was going to recover wasn’t exactly fair to him.

  He had a life.

  Yes, he was my best friend’s brother and I’d known him for most of my life, but we weren’t exactly…friends.

  “I’m not turning your well-being over to someone else, Vanna,” he said huskily. “It’s too important. You’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not. I’m taking some time off from Durand with Wyatt’s blessing. I can work from home while you recover. Torie will be close by, too. She and Cooper are within walking distance of my place.”

  Wait! He couldn’t possibly think I’d put him out by staying at his home, could he?

  “I can’t stay with you, Chase,” I said adamantly.

  “Why not?” he asked, his expression perplexed. “You haven’t found a place of your own yet in San Diego. Where else are you going to stay? Someone needs to be available if you need help, and Torie’s at her job with the university during the day.”

  “I’ll find something,” I said, trying to put my foot down with this stubborn man.

  I wasn’t the type of woman who ever counted on someone else. Ever. And Chase had already done so much for me.

  “Not right now,” he insisted. “Jesus Christ, Savannah! You’re in no condition to be looking for a new home. Be reasonable.”

  My immediate plan had been to get a decent hotel room until I could find something a little more permanent. It would be small and easy to get around. Okay, so that probably wasn’t a possibility he wanted to hear about right now.

  “I—I’ll think of a solution,” I sputtered. “I’ll get something temporary until—”

  “Not happening,” he interrupted. “You’re a friend and I’ve got a big place.”

  “How are you going to explain my presence to whoever you’re dating?” I questioned, feeling desperate for a good excuse, but dreading his answer just the same.

  “I don’t have to since I’m not seeing anyone,” he said stubbornly. “You did mention that you didn’t want to intrude on the newlyweds. I know Torie would take a leave of absence from her job at the university, but that’s not necessary since I’m willing and available.”