‘Hey, it was medication or beer.’ Alex smirked, lifting her own beer. ‘And I figured we could both enjoy these.’

Sam smiled again and felt the pain roar from his stomach. The bullet had missed his spine by millimetres, a small mercy considering the agony he was in. But he was determined to get better and with his teeth gritted, he pushed himself upwards, the crunch of his ab muscles causing him to hiss in discomfort. Alex quickly shot to his aid, readjusting the pillows behind his back to support him.

‘Thanks,’ Sam said helplessly.

‘No problems, grandad.’ Alex winked and returned to the windowsill, perching on the wooden ledge, and resuming her cigarette. After a few moments of comfortable silence, she spoke. ‘So, what’s the plan?’

‘Stay alive,’ Sam replied immediately. It was an in-built response, one that had been hard-wired into his mindset ever since he’d become a soldier all those years ago.

He was built for survival.

And they’d failed to kill him.

‘I meant with my family,’ Alex said. The mere mention of them caused her lip to tremble. Sam knew better than to ask her if she was okay. Alex was tough, he knew that, and she didn’t need his sympathy.

She needed his help.

Trevor Sims may have been found dead in the lower levels of that warehouse, but he was an odious man who basked in the control he had. With him gone, and Blackridge most likely looking for both Alex and Sam, getting to New York would be nigh on impossible.

Getting her family back even harder.

But Sam had made her a promise.

Once they’d found Marsden, Sam had told her he would do whatever he could to help her return to her family. His shot in the dark was to contact Paul Etheridge, but Sam hadn’t been able to. Alex had done some digging in a nearby Internet café, but the only information she could dig up was that his company had been sold.

Without Etheridge’s expertise and finances, Sam was out of ideas.

But he’d made a promise to Alex, and as he watched her stare vacantly out over the city of Naples, he felt a renewed sense of purpose.

He hadn’t been able to keep his promise to his son.

Hadn’t been able to protect him.

Sam knew it wouldn’t bring Jamie back, but by doing so, he would be able to fend off the pain of his loss a little longer. Ignoring the pain, Sam leant forward and gently wrapped his fingers around Alex’s petite wrist.

She faced him, her eyes watering.

Sam looked her dead in the eye and said eight words that he would burn into his memory.

‘I promise, I’ll help you get them back.’

* * *