Take Me in Bangkok: A Steamy Mafia Travel Romance (Take Me Abroad Book 2) by K.D. Elizabeth

Author:K.D. Elizabeth [Elizabeth, K.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vivre Libre Media
Published: 2022-09-03T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Alessandra

The paramedics pull up a few minutes later. The others clear out while they treat me, apart from Ford, who doesn’t move an inch from the chair next to me. His hand never releases mine, even when they put a stethoscope to my chest and listen to my lungs. They decree my lungs clear and one of the medics gives me a prescription for antibiotics to prevent an infection caused by any water I inhaled.

The exhaustion hits when they finally drive off. It’s not even noon, and all I want to do is crawl back into bed. My chest hurts, my throat is raw, any words I manage to get out are hoarse, the cuts from yesterday sting from the chlorinated water, and my sprained ankle throbs from falling into the pool.

“You should rest,” Ford says.

My head lolls back against the chair. I can feel his eyes on me, studying me, cataloging my every last movement. His expression is unreadable, but knowing Ford, he’s probably wracked with guilt.

“Lessa,” he says, “I can’t apologize enough for this happening.”

My head jerks toward him, startled by my brother’s nickname for me.

“Sorry,” he repeats, noticing my expression. “Should I not call you that? It just seemed … right.”

I smile. “No, it’s fine. You can call me that.”

I’m also quite partial to gorgeous.

He smiles back, a faint smile, one that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. The desire to smooth away the line of worry between his brows rises up with such force my hand is moving toward him before I snatch it back. Ford’s gaze drops to my hand, heat flashing in his eyes.

He clears his throat, but when he speaks, his voice still croaks. “Lessa,” he says, “I’m sure it’s private but I have to know … why are you here? Why did you come to Thailand when there’s water everywhere?”

I sigh. “I hate my phobia, and thought if I came here, I could get over it. Obviously, with the Chakrii thing, I haven’t had much time to work on it. When I fell in … my mind just shut down. It didn’t even matter that I knew how to swim.”

“Why didn’t you say something before?” he asks quietly, practically begging. “Why did you let me think … just why?”

My shoulders slump. “I was embarrassed to tell you. It’s pathetic, and you’re all SEALs.”

“You’re not pathetic,” he says fiercely. “You’re brave. Most people will never face their fears, never in their whole lifetime. In fact, they’ll design their entire lives around never having to confront them. It’s understandable, human even, which is why it’s so remarkable when someone actively decides to get over something that scares the living shit out of them. That’s why it’s one of the first things they force us to do in the military. That makes you like us, Alessandra. You’re not pathetic at all, and I never want to hear you say that again.”

Whoa. He really thinks I’m as brave as him? No way. I don’t jump in front of bullets like he does.

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