“Well, well. Get enough beauty sleep, sunshine?”

“Cash, man, you have to get me out of here.”

“Yeah, well, first we had to keep you from dying. But, all right. We’ll get you out of here as soon as Doc T gives you a go. Jared will be here soon. Mia just walked down the hall to stretch her legs. She’ll be back in a sec. Want me to call her?”

Winters pinched his eyes. Her name made him schoolboy twitchy. Bits and pieces of Colombia filtered back. But the one blaring memory burning up his brain was when he limped into that shack. It was empty, and the woman he loved was gone. He wanted to tear every beam from the wall, to ram through the Titan guys for no other reason than he needed an outlet. And when he saw her, safe, coming toward the shack, it was the most satisfying and gut-wrenching moment of his life. She was alive, within eyeshot, and he was the worst thing that could have ever happen to her.

He loved her, and she’d never know.

A feminine snip of exasperation echoed in the hallway and dragged him back to his conversation with Cash.

“Sounds like your girl is here. Wonder what has her in a fuss.” Cash chuckled and pivoted for the door.

Winters dropped his head down. The beard whiskers tickled his neck and scratched his chin, and it was all he wanted to think about instead of ponying up the truth.

“I told the nurse to not let her back in here.” He winced. It sounded even worse out loud than in his head. And it was horrible in his head.

“You did what?” Cash pivoted one-eighty back on his heels, dumbstruck.

“I asked the nurse to send her away.” Winters glanced out the window instead of at Cash. But that didn’t ease the guilt and overwhelming sense of loss.

“You, my friend, have a death wish. Colombian cartels are child’s play compared to a woman on the warpath. That woman in particular. She pushes Jared around like he’s a bratty toddler. Hell, she pokes him in the chest on the regular when he’s not listening.”

Winters sawed his teeth back and forth, and turned from the window to watch Cash take a backward step to catch the showdown in the hallway. Someone must have seen him, and he threw his hands up in innocence.

“Aw, shit. Here she comes.” Cash made a move to duck-and-cover. “Mia, one. Nurse, zilch. And you’re in trouble, sunshine. Adios.”

Before Cash made it through the threshold, Mia roared around the corner, knocking him out of her way, and back into the room. “What is your problem, Colby Winters?”

She was red-faced, bug-eyed mad. This wasn’t working out the way he planned.

“I think this might be my cue to leave. Mia, nice to see you. Winters, glad you’re alive, buddy. Best of luck.”