Tough Love

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Yes ma'am, a few actually. My Rangers tattoo is my favorite though.”

“Did you have to get it?”

“No, it's not a requirement. I'm just proud of my regiment, so I want to show people I was a Ranger.”

“Ok.”

“You want to eat? We can sit on the beach and have lunch.”

I hesitate, not knowing if I can do it. It seems to be getting busier and I am looking around me assessing all of the dangers. I'm just about to ask if we can go home when someone steps in front of me and says, “Tatyana?”

I shrink back and hide behind Eli. I'm trembling out of fear. I can't even form a full sentence to answer Eli when he asks, “Dani? What's wrong?”

“Tatyana, is that you? Who am I kidding, it must be you. With those eyes you can't be anyone else....”

Eli steps up to the guy and calmly, but firmly says, “Excuse me sir, but you have the wrong person. She's not who you think she is. Kindly back off.”

The guys steps closer to me and says in Russian, “They said you were dead. They lied, didn't they?”

I can't help the involuntary gasp that escapes my lips. The guy smirks, and I know I've just given myself away. I grab a fist full of Eli's shirt and whisper through ragged breaths, “I need to go... We need to go.... We need to go...”

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(Eli's POV)

Dani is panicking big time. I don't know what's going on, but when I look round at her, she's holing onto my shirt for dear life and it looks like she's just about holding it together. If I don't get her out of here now, I think she's going to pass out.

I grind out through clenched teeth, “Look, man, I don't know who you are, but you need to get the heck away from my girl. She's not who you think she is so just back off...” 

The guy smirks, and I just want to slap it right off his face. He says, “No, she's not who you think she is. I think you need to have a chat with her...”

I put my arm round Dani's shoulders and I start to lead her away. As we are walking, he shouts something is what I assume is Russian. Dani must have heard, because I feel her stiffen in my arms. She's starting to hyperventilate so I rush to get to the car. I help Dani into the car and I jump into the driver's seat. Before I can even put my seat belt on, Dani speaks. She just says one simple word, “Drive.”

The look on her face is pure fear, so I don't argue or even try to tell her about the safety of seat belts. Her hands are trembling and as I drive, I see her ball them into fists. She squeezes her hands so tight that her knuckles are white, but it doesn't stop the trembling. The shaking starts at her hands and carries on all the way up her arms, which in turn causes her body to shake.

I sigh and reach out to take her hands. She jumps and whispers, “Don't. Just don't touch me.”

I'm shocked. Her tone is so harsh and it doesn't even sound like her. After a few seconds, I let out a deep breath, which seems to bring Dani out of some form of trance and she realizes what she's just said.

“I'm sorry; I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry...”

“It's ok, baby. It's ok. You need to try to relax a bit. Your breathing is really ragged. Are your fingers tingling yet?”

“A little, sir.”

I briefly look away from the road to check her face. She's staring at her knuckles, so I can't read her expression. “You need to take some deep breaths, Dani. Just try to calm down...”